Dendera, Nile

Dendera, also spelled Denderah, Dandarah, is a little town in Egypt on the west bank of the Nile, about 5 km south from Qina, on the opposite side of the Nile.

Located rather isolated on the desert edge, about 2.5 km south-west of the Town, lay what Dendera is known for, the mostly Greco-Roman Temple Complex, Dendera, known in ancient Egyptian as Iunet or Tantere.

The Dendera Temple complex which contains the Temple of Hathor is one of the best preserved temples, if not the best, in all Egypt. The whole complex covers some 40,000 square meters and is surrounded by a hefty mud brick enclosed wall. The present building dates back to the times of the Ptolemaic dynasty and was completed by the Roman emperor Tiberius, but it rests on the foundations of earlier buildings dating back at least as far as Khufu (pyramid builder Cheops, second king of the 4th dynasty [c. 2613–c. 2494 BC]), in which was found the celebrated zodiac now in Paris; there are also the Roman and pharaonic Mammisi (birth houses), ruins of a Coptic church and a small chapel dedicated to Isis, of the Roman or Ptolemaic epoch. The area around the temple has had extensive landscaping, and now has a modern visitor centre, bazaar and small cafeteria.

Cruise Season – Oct - April
Currency – Egyptian pound (LE) (EGP)
Language – Arabic
Electricity – 2 round pins European style
Time – GMT plus two hours
International Country Telephone Code – +20