Photo: Holger Uwe Schmitt (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Egypt
Luxor
Ancient Thebes, the largest open-air museum in the world
City · Egypt
Discover Luxor
Luxor is Thebes, Egypt's capital in the New Kingdom, and "Ancient Thebes with its Necropolis" has been on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1979. The Nile divides it in two: the east bank for the living and the temples, the west bank for the tombs and the funerary temples.
On the east bank stands the Karnak temple complex, with its Great Hypostyle Hall of 134 columns, joined to Luxor Temple by the Avenue of Sphinxes, reopened in 2021. Luxor Temple is at its best after sunset, when its facade and obelisk are lit.
On the west bank lie the Valley of the Kings, with tombs cut into the mountain, among them Tutankhamun's, found in 1922; Queen Hatshepsut's temple at Deir el-Bahari; and the Colossi of Memnon. Balloon flights leave from there at sunrise, and most Nile cruises to Aswan start or end in Luxor.
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