A ride on a felucca, the sailing boat that epitomises the Nile, is a unique experience. Depending on the weather and the inspiration – being on a felucca is propitious to indolence and contemplation – you can choose between a short tour opposite Aswa..

Philae is first and foremost the site on which, according to legend, Isis chose to build her home. Following the goddess's cult, Nectanebo I (XXX Dynasty) and the Ptolemies built a temple (which was completed by the Romans). It was dismantled and r..

This temple is laid out like a true religious city, entirely devoted to the cult of the goddess and giver of life. The interior courtyard, after the first pylon glorifying Ptolemy XII, leads to the mammisi , where the birth of Horus was celebrated. ..

The majority of tourists soak up Aswan's appealing Nubian atmosphere by heading to the Corniche. It is a good place to take in the change in topographical backdrop typical of the south of the country. Seen from Luxor, the Nile opened out onto vast ho..

The vestiges of this site are testament to inhabitants' devotion to the divinities that protected the Nile: Khnum Temple , in honour of the guardian of the source of the Nile, dating from the Middle Kingdom and reconstructed by Nectanebo II (XXX Dyn..

This tropical paradise can be reached by felucca from Aswan. The island, commonly known as the "Island of Flowers", is planted with numerous species from equatorial and tropical Africa and Asia: sycamores, palm trees, ebony trees, teaks and..

In Ancient Egypt, this island played the role of gateway to Nubia. It is one of a group of small granitic islands stranded in the rapids of the Nile (the First Cataract). A granitic hill made up of boulders with inscriptions invoking the divinities o..

Like all Middle Eastern souks, this one is brimming with Eastern specialities ranging from spices, incense and perfumes, cotton fabrics, leather, metal and ebony crafts to marquetry, basketwork and glassware. But it is also the hub of Nubian communit..

This museum is worth visiting to see not only its collections presenting Nubian history and culture from prehistoric times to the present day but also the building, designed by architect Mahmoud el-Hakim (1997). It is a fine tribute to the Nubians, a..

This edifice was a shelter for Isis's bark for her journey to the Island of Biggeh, Osiris's resting place. It is one of the most beautiful buildings in Philae and has 14 columns, each with a differently decorated capital. Some bear the effigy of the..

Spanning more than 6 000km 2 , the largest artificial lake in the world was created when Nasser had the Aswan High Dam constructed. The idea was to protect the area from the swelling Nile and to irrigate new land. Numerous temples had to be moved out..

These numerous tombs hewn out of the graduated cliff date back to the Ancient and Middle Empires. They were built for the nomarchs and dignitaries of Elephantine who were in charge of safeguarding Egypt's southern border. Although most are dilapidate..

The gigantic lotus flower that is the Monument to Friendship between the Soviet Union and Egypt stands at the Aswan High Dam ( Sadd el-Ali in Arabic), a colossal construction dating from 1960-1964 but only fully completed in 1971.

Three temples formerly situated south of Aswan were moved up onto a little island of Lake Nasser, upstream of the High Dam. Built in Ptolemaic times by Emperor Augustus and dedicated to the Nubian god Mandulis (the equivalent of Horus), the Temple o..

Installed in the colonial house of an engineer of the old dam since 1912, the museum has a collection of objects from the Predynastic period up to Byzantine times, originating from the Aswan region and Lower Nubia. In spite of its old-fashioned appea..