Philae Temple

About this place

One of the loveliest and most famous temples in Egypt, standing on a small island in the waters of the Nile south of Aswan, known of old as the Pearl of the Nile. It was built mostly in Ptolemaic and Roman times, is dedicated to the goddess Isis, and remained one of the last strongholds of the ancient Egyptian religion until the sixth century AD. The temple originally stood on Philae island, partly flooded by the old Aswan Dam from the early twentieth century and then threatened with total submersion by the High Dam. So in the 1970s it was moved stone by stone, as part of UNESCO's international campaign to save the monuments of Nubia, to neighbouring Agilkia island, which was landscaped to resemble the original. You reach it by small boat from the marina on a short, lovely ride, then pass between the columns of the long colonnade to the huge pylon carved with royal reliefs, the courtyard, the hypostyle hall and Trajan's Kiosk overlooking the water. A foreign visitor's ticket costs about five hundred and fifty Egyptian pounds according to the ministry list, and the boat fare is separate, agreed at the marina. It opens from seven in the morning to four in the afternoon, and early morning is best, before the heat and the crowds. On some nights a sound and light show is held at the temple, ticketed separately.