Aswan is well-known for its warm sunny weather, friendly people and felucca's on the River Nile. But explore further and you'll see rock cut tomb on the west side, a Botanical Island, and Aghakhan Mausoleum mixing with more monuments of the ancient Philae Temple and the modern High Dam. In the evening you'll enjoy walking through the "Souk" from one spice shops to another, bargaining over souvenirs, you will be walking through nostalgia to an era that has long gone.

Sightseeing in Aswan

The Temple of Philae:
Philae Temple, a Ptolemaic Temple complex dedicated to Isis, was built on the island of Philae but when the old dam was built, many of the buildings were partially flooded. When  the High Dam was proposed, the temple was at risk and was therefore moved to the higher neighboring island of Agilika. Agilika blasted and re-landscaped to duplicate Philae's topography and became modern Philae. Today, the island floats like a jewel in a pool of royal blue. Visit the temple of Philae at night for an evening Sound and Light show. Enjoy the spectacular lights which vividly reveal the form and majesty of this ancient site and walk through the dramatically lit temple as its history is narrated.

Elephantine Island and Kitchener's Island:
These sites are normally visited together and by “felucca”, a traditional sailing- boat on the Nile. Elephantine Island is Aswan’s largest Island. Eminently defensible, the area was occupied from pre-dynastic times. During dynastic times, the fortified capital of the province dominated the is1and’s southern tip serving as both an administrative and trading centre. Today the island offers a variety of activities. Modern villages sprawl across Elephantine’s centre, bursting with activity. 

Hidden behind the northern tip of Elephantine’s is Kitchener’s Island, given to Lord Kitchener as a reward for his campaigns in Sudan. A passionate botanist, he retired here and turned the Island into a garden wonderland, importing shrubs and trees from tropical Africa. The Egyptian government has continued to preserve it as a botanical garden.

Dominating the desert hill across from the south end of Elephantine Island, the pink granite was built in the late 1950’s to house the body of Agha Sultan Mohamed Shah. Leader of the Ismaili set of Islam. The Agha Khan selected his own burial site, reached by a path from the base of the cliff, about a 10 minute climb (now closed to the public).

The Old and New Dams:
Built by the British between 1898 and 1902, the Old Dam was for many years the largest in the world. Raised in 1912 and 1934, this granite dam now stands 50 meters high, 2,000 meters long, 30 meters deep. Its 180 sluice gates, which were opened during the inundation and then gradually closed as the river level dropped, preserved a semi-natural flood cycle.

The High Dam built between 1960 and 1971 with the help of the Russians, rises 111 meters, is 980 meters thick at the bottom and 40 meters at the top, amid stretches 3.6 km across the tire river. Lake Nasser backs up for nearly 500 km and averages over 10 km wide and 180 meters deep. The High Dam was built to generate enough electricity for new industry as well as for wide electric power across rural areas of Egypt.