LUXOR
Luxor, an open-air museum of Egypt, enchants with sunlight, sunsets, and millennia of history. Divided by the Nile between the eastern and western banks, it preserves temples, statues, and monumental columns that recount the deeds of gods and pharaohs, offering an unforgettable journey through time.
What to see
EAST BANK
On Luxor’s east bank, devote a morning or an afternoon to visiting the temples of Karnak and Luxor, part of ancient Thebes and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In about 4–5 hours you can explore both sites, 2.5 km apart, and take spectacular photographs.
Karnak Temple Complex
The Temple of Karnak, the most sacred site of ancient Egypt, is the result of over 2,000 years of work by 30 pharaohs. Dedicated to Amun and his family, it expanded to cover more than 28 hectares, becoming one of the largest and best-preserved religious complexes of the ancient world.
Luxor Temple
Luxor Temple is one of the city’s oldest and best-preserved temples, considered by the Egyptians the place of the creation of the god Amun-Ra. Beyond divine worship, it served to renew the power of the pharaohs during the Opet Festival. Ramses II left a monumental mark with pylons, inscriptions, and colossal statues. Over time, the temple also housed a Roman sanctuary, a church, and a mosque dedicated to Abu al-Hajjaj.
The Avenue of the Sphinxes
The Avenue of the Sphinxes, dating back 3,000 years and recently reopened, connects the temples of Karnak and Luxor. Stretching 2.7 km, it was used during the Opet Festival and is flanked by around 600 ram-headed sphinxes, restored over seventy years.
Valley of the Queens and Valley of the Nobles
The Valley of the Queens and the Valley of the Nobles are two often overlooked but unmissable sites. The tomb of Nefertari is striking for its well-preserved colorful reliefs, while the many tombs of the nobles depict vivid scenes of daily life in ancient Egypt.
Valley of the Kings
The Valley of the Kings, on a remote bank of the Nile, contains more than sixty tombs of Egypt’s most powerful rulers. Rock-cut tombs replaced pyramids to protect treasures from looting. Visitors can explore tombs with scenes illustrating the journey to the afterlife; the basic ticket allows access to three tombs, with the option to add others, opened on a rotating basis to preserve the paintings.
The tomb of Tutankhamun
The Temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari, dedicated to the famous queen, amazes with the contrast between sandstone, rock, and sky. Spread across three terraces, it contains statues, reliefs of alliances and victories, a sanctuary, the portico of divine birth, the portico of the voyage to Punt, and the sanctuary of Amun-Ra.
The tomb of Ramses VI
The tomb of Ramses VI features walls decorated with funerary texts such as the Amduat and the Book of the Dead. On the ceiling, the goddess Nut arches over the earth with twelve solar disks symbolizing the sun’s nocturnal journey and the rebirth of Ramses at dawn.
Deir al-Medina
Deir al-Medina allows exploration of the houses and vividly painted tombs of artisans from the 18th to the 20th Dynasty. Beside the village stands a Ptolemaic temple with sculpted and painted walls, including a rare scene of the ritual of the weighing of the heart.
Valley of the Kings
The Valley of the Kings, on a remote bank of the Nile, contains more than sixty tombs of Egypt’s most powerful rulers. Rock-cut tombs replaced pyramids to protect treasures from looting. Visitors can explore tombs with scenes illustrating the journey to the afterlife; the basic ticket allows access to three tombs, with the option to add others, opened on a rotating basis to preserve the paintings.
The tomb of Tutankhamun
The Temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari, dedicated to the famous queen, amazes with the contrast between sandstone, rock, and sky. Spread across three terraces, it contains statues, reliefs of alliances and victories, a sanctuary, the portico of divine birth, the portico of the voyage to Punt, and the sanctuary of Amun-Ra.
The tomb of Ramses VI
The tomb of Ramses VI features walls decorated with funerary texts such as the Amduat and the Book of the Dead. On the ceiling, the goddess Nut arches over the earth with twelve solar disks symbolizing the sun’s nocturnal journey and the rebirth of Ramses at dawn.
Deir al-Medina
Deir al-Medina allows exploration of the houses and vividly painted tombs of artisans from the 18th to the 20th Dynasty. Beside the village stands a Ptolemaic temple with sculpted and painted walls, including a rare scene of the ritual of the weighing of the heart.
