Aswan Attractions

Aswan Dam located near Aswan, the world famous High Dam was an engineering miracle when it was built in the 1960. It contains 18 times the material used in the Great Pyramid of Cheops. The Dam is 11,811 feet long, 3215 feet thick at the base and 364 feet tall, Today it provides irrigation and electricity for the whole of Egypt and together with the old Aswan Dam built by the British between 1898 and 1902, 6km down river, gorgeous views for visitors, From the top of the two Mile long High Dam you can look across Lake Nassar, the huge reservoir created when it was built to Kalabsha temple in the south and the huge power station to the north.

The Aswan High Dam was wonderful project, In fact it was one of the most important achievements of the last century in Egypt, for many years symbolizing the New Era after 1952.

The Aswan High Dam yields enormous benefits to the economy of Egypt, The first time in history, the annual Nile flood can be controlled by man, The dam detain the floodwaters, releasing them when needed to maximize their utility on irrigated land, to water hundreds of thousands of new acres, to develop navigation in Aswan, and to generate enormous amounts of electric power, The dam powers twelve generators each rated at 175 megawatts, producing a hydroelectric output of 2.1 gigawatts. Power generation began in 1967.

When the dam first reached peak output it produced around half of Egypt’s entire electricity production (about 15% by 1998) and allowed for the connection of most Egyptian villages to electricity for the first time.
The dam has also provided much needed water for irrigation, as well as producing electricity from the hydroelectric output of the river, The dam helped Egypt to reach its highest ever level of electric production, granting many small villages the luxury of using electricity for the first time. Prepare yourself for a particularly sightseeing experience in Aswan with plan Egypt tours.

The unfinished obelisk in Aswan is viewed as a big disappointment for the ancient Egyptian stone workers, however in the meantime a stunning location for tourists, as it is one of the main Attractions of Egypt and the biggest obelisk found in the Country.

This obelisk is known as "The unfinished obelisk" because it has never been completed, the importance of this historical site is to illustrate the effort and means used by the ancient Egyptians in order to carve these obelisks, as it was carved into the mountain of granite in Aswan.

The unfinished obelisk is nearly one-third larger than any ancient Egyptian obelisk ever erected.

The obelisk is about 42 meters high (approximately 137 feet) and would have weighed nearly 1,090 tons, a weight equal to about 200 African elephants, it would become the largest building in Egypt, Archaeologists have ascribed the lack of completion of the obelisk into two reasons:

• A split in the middle of the obelisk which hampered the process of cutting and engraving .
• Spread of plague among specialists of workers which led to the evacuation of the area.

Visiting such a dazzling area is a magnificent experience you have to visit in your Egypt Holidays, Plan Egypt tours offering Tours to Aswan Dam, Unfinished Obelisk and Philae Temple, in addition Egypt Tours and Travel Packages to all Egypt destinations including Aswan.

Philae Temple situated at Philae Island in the middle of the Nile River in Aswan, one of the strongest forts along the southern border of Egypt, it is separating the Nile River in Aswan into two channels where Philae Temple before has been moved from its unique location on the island of "Ojeljka", at the time they were building the high dam.

This beautiful temple complex is one of the most astonishing temple in all of Egypt, It is located in Aglika Island south the old Aswan Dam, and you need to ride a boat to arrive to this Island, The temple was moved to its current location in the wake of building the High Dam.

The name of Philae or Vilay comes from the Greek language, which means (beloved) or (granules), the Arabic name is (Anas El Wogood), the fable in the stories of One Thousand.

There is a large temples on the island of Philae Perhaps the oldest of these temples going back to the reign of King Tuthmosis III (1490-1436 BC). In the fourth century BC, the king of "Nakht Npf" (378-341 BC.) built a huge temple, then "Ptolemy Vladtv" (third century BC) built his large temple.

As one of the principle attractions in Egypt, the Philae Temple in a primary tourist destination, Plan Egypt tour offering day tours in Aswan and a wide selection of Egypt Holidays and travel packages to visit such a wonderful place, On the other hand, do not miss the chance to relish a unique sound and light show at the Temple of Philae.

Kalabsha Temple is one of the wonderful attractions in Aswan which considered the most delightful city on the banks of the Nile River, as it is the most favorite winter resort for all people since the nineteenth century. plan Egypt tours gives you the chance to visit Kalabsha Temple it is magnificent attraction.

Kalabsha Temple returned to the roman times and was dedicated to the Nubian god Mandoulis, and go back to the time of roman emperor Augustus, later emperor have contributed for the construction, for example, kaligula and Trjan.It originally was built on much early site that dates back to the 18th dynasty and most probably go back to king Thothmosis and Amenhotep II.The temple is considered among the most complete temples in all of Nubia.

The design of Kalabsha Temple is classical for the Ptolemaic period with pylons, courtyard, hypostyle hall and three room, However the Pylon is offset, which creates a trapezoid in the courtyard beyond, It was based on the site of an earlier structure built by Ptolemy IX as evidenced by a chapel There is also a small chapel and gate on Elephantine Island from Kalabsha, and a gate built by Augustus was given to the Agyptisches Museum in West Berlin.

The courtyard just inside the pylon once had columns on three sides, At either end is a staircase that leads to the upper stories of the pylon and a good view of Lake Nassar, On the right screened wall separating the courtyard from the hypostyle hall is an engraving from Aurelius Besarion (around 249 AD), the governor of Ombos and Elephantine decreeing the expulsion of swine from the town for religious purposes, On a column here is the text of King Kharamadoye and is one of the longest Meroitic inscriptions found to date.

On an end wall is thought to be an inscription of the 5th century Nubian King, Silko, who conquered the fierce Nubian Blemmyes, Different seances on the screen walls including the King with Horus and Thoth, On the rear of the vestibule are scenes depicting a Ptolemaic king making offerings to Isis and Mandulis, Also Amenhotep II who founded the original temple (1450 to 1425 BC) upon which this one is built, is making offers of wine to Min and Mandulis, once you are in Aswan do not miss the chance to visit Kalabsha Temple.

Aga Khan Mausoleum is the Mausoleum of the spiritual leader of the Ismailis, a Shia sect (as the Fatimid) based principally in India, The mausoleum has been built in honor of Sultan Mohammed Shah, Aga Khan III, Aga Khan Mausoleum situated in Aswan, It is a very elegant pink granite structure of late 1950 origin, which also look like the Fatimid tombs in Cairo.

Members of this sect consider themselves to be the direct spiritual of the Fatimid, Aga Khan Mausoleum has an excellent view, including Aga Khan's white villa below, and is near the Monastery of St. Simeon's on the west bank at Aswan, His wife still lives in the villa three months of the year.

The Aga Khan was extremely wealthy, On his birthday in 1945 he was weighed in diamonds which then distributed to his followers, Everyday his widow "Om Habibeh" was placing a Red Rose on his white Carrara marble tomb at the Villa, She popularly referred to as "The Begum" died on July 1st, 2000, The other months a gardener fills this function and it has been rumored that at one point not a single rose could be found in Egypt, so for almost a week roses were flown in from Paris by private jet.

Visiting such a dazzling area is a magnificent experience you do not want to miss in your Egypt Holidays, as Plan Egypt tours offers Aswan Tours and in addition Egypt Tours and Travel Packages to all Egypt destinations including Aga Khan Mausoleum in Aswan.

Kitchener's Island is located on an island amidst the Nile River in front of Aswan city, the island contains a rare collection of equatorial plants Established by Lord Kitchener the English ruler in the year 1898 and made it a station to get messages coming from Sudan.

The park has three berths, one at the beginning of the park from the north and the second is in the middle and the third in the southern tip, The Park is divided into 27 basins, each one contains a different species and varieties of palm trees and shrubs.

Many tourists are keen to visit such a fabulous place during their Egypt Holidays or Egypt Day Tours, Also there is many day tours in Aswan to relish visiting that charming attraction, either by getting on the island or by taking Felucca Tours in Aswan.

The park includes a museum and a cafeteria to serve visitors in addition to a water filter and pump station for irrigation. Its famous reputation is the presence of a rare collection of plants and flowers, and since the fifties the state give careful consideration to the island as it became a place of tourism and entertainment.

The tourists can see the many types of subtropical plantings and rare plantings imported from all over the world. The island is also a haven for rare exotic birds.

The Nubian Museum (officially the International Museum of Nubia) is an archaeological Museum situated in Aswan, Nubian Museum was designed by an Egyptian architect called Mahmoud El Hakim for an estimated construction cost of LE 75 million, Dedicated to Nubian culture and civilization.

In 1959, and after the High Dam was built in Aswan, the Egyptian government appealed to the UNESCO seeking help to salvage the monumental sites in Nubia, hence the area between Aswan and the Sudan was submerge by the Nile waters, The UNESCO was encouraged to build the Nubian Museum.

The idea of building the museum came in an effort to save the Nubian culture, antiquities, and history. The Museum is built on a steep cliff, which enables it to embody a full scale design for the Nile River from its origins in Ethiopia and Sudan to Egypt.