Luxor

The great city of Thebes, capital of the empire for centuries, is famous throughout the world and the Greeks called "Thebes of the 100 gates", began to decline in 672 BC with the sack that inflicted Ashurbanipal. In 84 BC the city was almost completely destroyed by the Ptolemies, the new rulers, who wanted to turn the sense of nationalism opponentesi them and Alexandria, the new capital. At the time of the Romans Thebes was already a sea of ruins. In the early centuries of the new era, among the ruins, are part of the Coptic Christian churches, mosques and then grow other villages. So on the ruins of the old capital divided by the river, Luxor in the south and north grows the small village of Karnak. In Luxor, the only evidence of significant past and time that the Egyptians "Harem of Amun in the south." Temple built almost entirely by Amon-Ofis III, enlarged by Thoth-Mosis III and completed by mses-Ra II.An apparent singularity in the plan of the complex is that of a second and larger room hypostyle, reduced to the colonnade, and placed after the temple courtyard. Those who love archeology can not lose the magic they Luxor. The legendary Thebes a hundred gates sung by Homer, is still a real distillation of beauty and "Egyptians". Next to the Nile and practically in the center of the modern city stands the extraordinary Luxor Temple, it makes sense to visit at sunset, proceeding from the Avenue of the Sphinxes. Go past the statues of the great Ramses, one enters the room of the fourteen columns. Among the colossal statues, paintings, depictions of pharaohs and queens, you will feel overwhelmed by a civilization that seems to come from another world. The journey into the past continues with the wonders of the Temple of Karnak, just two kilometers from Luxor, with its maze of courtyards and colonnades, Titanic is a work that required two thousand years of work. Luxor has often been considered the largest open-air museum.Currently what we all consider as Luxor is really three different areas: the city of Luxor on the east bank of the Nile, the city of Karnak to the north and Thebes, the ancient Egyptians called Waset, which is in the west of the Nile or the other side of Luxor Luxor is a major tourist attraction in Egypt, it has been since ancient times. In Luxor there are only three main streets: Sharia al-Mahatta, Sharia al-Karnak and Comiched near the Nile. The road in front of the train station is Sharia al-Mahatta that runs toward the Nile where it finds the gardens of Luxor Temple. Sharia al-Karnak, or Maabad al-Karnak which means Karnak Temple of the road runs along the Nile from Luxor Temple to Karnak Temple.Along this road you can find colorful cafes and restaurants and the tourist bazaar where to buy souvenirs ... .. the real Egyptian shops elsewhere. Particular interest should be of alabaster is mined and worked in the West Bank not far from there. Luxor is a city of 150,000 inhabitants and is ruled by a special statute that gives him particular political autonomy than other regions in Egypt. One thing to remember, many government buildings and other civilians are constructed according to an ancient code, particularly the National Bank of Egypt, the Winter Palace Hotel, the Police Station and the train station are all designed to look like buildings " Pharaoh. "