{"id":26550,"date":"2025-06-19T09:05:39","date_gmt":"2025-06-19T08:05:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nanoo.travel\/philae-abu-simbel-temples-of-eternity-on-the-banks-of-the-nile\/"},"modified":"2025-11-02T16:21:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-02T15:21:10","slug":"philae-abu-simbel-temples-of-eternity-on-the-banks-of-the-nile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nanoo.travel\/en\/philae-abu-simbel-temples-of-eternity-on-the-banks-of-the-nile\/","title":{"rendered":"Travel to Egypt | The majestic temples of Philae and Abu Simbel"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In the very south of Egypt, where the Nile widens between granite islands and golden dunes, lie two jewels of Egyptian antiquity: the temple of Isis at Philae, set on a peaceful island, and the majestic temples of Abu Simbel, carved out of the rock of the Nubian desert. Between golden light, the silence of the river and millennia-old tales, these two emblematic sites offer a striking face-to-face encounter with the grandeur of the pharaohs and the delicacy of sacred worship. <\/p>\n\n

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Aswan, the gateway to thesouth<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

Aswan is a city apart. More peaceful than Luxor, it offers a different, slower, brighter rhythm. Here, the Nile flows between islands and rocks, feluccas glide by in an almost unreal calm, and the desert hills glow red in the setting sun. <\/p>\n\n

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This is where ancient Egypt meets Nubia, and influences mingle. You can visit the Nubian Museum, the granite quarries and the unfinished obelisk, the high dam or the colorful, welcoming Nubian villages. But the real jewel, the one you’ll remember for a long time, is on the water: the temple of Philae. <\/p>\n\n

Philae, the temple saved from the waters<\/h2>\n\n

Set on an island bathed in light, the temple of Philae seems to float between the sky and the Nile. And yet, in the 1970s, this thousand-year-old sanctuary almost disappeared under the waters, swallowed up by the rising Nile following the construction of the Aswan High Dam. <\/p>\n\n

The rescue of Philae follows on from an earlier titanic project carried out a few years earlier: between 1964 and 1968, the temple of Abu Simbel, a jewel of ancient Egypt, was dismantled stone by stone and then rebuilt on a higher site, also to escape flooding.<\/p>\n\n

Thanks to a new international campaign led by UNESCO, the temple of Philae was moved between 1972 and 1980, thanks to the meticulous dismantling of almost 40,000 numbered blocks, then rebuilt identically on the higher, protected island of Aguilkia. The work saved one of the finest jewels of late Egypt. <\/p>\n\n

But what strikes you first about Philae, even before the colonnades and reliefs, is the beauty of the place. The island of Aguilkia, surrounded by granite rocks, palm trees and tranquil waters, seems to float between the sky and the Nile. The arrival by boat, the silence in the early morning, the glint of stone in the rising sun… everything contributes to making this visit a timeless interlude, where the landscape sublimates the heritage. <\/p>\n\n

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Then, as we move further onto the island, the temple reveals itself: elegant, solemn, perfectly proportioned.<\/p>\n\n

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Dedicated to Isis, goddess of maternity, magic and eternal life, Philae embodies all the sacred elegance of late Egypt. Built from the 4th century BC under the Ptolemies, and completed under the Roman Empire, it was one of the last pagan sanctuaries still in use, until its official closure in the 6th century.<\/p>\n\n

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A tour of the site reveals a harmonious ensemble of pavilions, courtyards, pylons and columns, spread over a length of some 150 metres. Each building recounts a facet of the cult of Isis, from her divine power to her role as protective mother. Among others, you’ll discover: <\/p>\n\n