Luxor Temple, Egypt: visitor guide

What to expect at Luxor Temple

Luxor Temple (Ipet Resyt, 'Southern Sanctuary') is one of the top surviving temple complexes of ancient Egypt, a structure begun by Amenhotep III (about 1390–1352 BC) and completed over subsequent centuries by Ramesses II, Tutankhamun and later pharaohs, standing on the east bank of the Nile in the centre of the modern city of Luxor, its entrance pylons facing directly north toward the Karnak complex 3km away along the ancient Avenue of Sphinxes.

Unlike Karnak (which was the temple of Amun-Ra, the dominant state deity) it was specifically associated with the rejuvenation of the pharaoh. The place where the royal ka (divine spirit) was annually renewed in the Opet Festival, when the sacred barques of the Theban Triad (Amun, Mut and Khonsu) were carried in procession from Karnak to Luxor along the sphinx avenue.

Avenue of Sphinxes

The Avenue of Sphinxes (Tariq el Kebash) connecting it to Karnak was one of the great processional ways of the ancient world, originally 3km of sphinx statues (about 1,350 human-headed sphinxes replacing an earlier ram-headed sphinx avenue) lining the ceremonial road between the two temples. The avenue was buried under the modern city of Luxor for centuries and excavated progressively from the 1950s to 2021, when the official reopening of the complete avenue (with a dramatic evening ceremony) reconnected the two temples for the first time in 1,600 years.

Besides, the full 3km processional walk from its northern entrance to Karnak's southern gate, along the newly excavated sphinx avenue, is now one of the top architectural promenade experiences in Egypt.

Entrance pylon of Ramesses II

The entrance pylon of Ramesses II is the temple's most dramatic monument, a gateway of two towers originally 24 metres high (one standing, one partially collapsed) decorated with Ramesses's military campaigns including the Battle of Kadesh, flanked by six statues of Ramesses (two standing, four seated, two now in the Louvre and Turin museums) and originally preceded by two obelisks of red Aswan granite. One obelisk still stands at the pylon's entrance.

The other was given to France in 1833 and now stands in the Place de la Concorde in Paris. Moreover, the standing obelisk (25 metres) is engraved on all four faces with texts praising Ramesses's military achievements and divine favour, the top of the surviving Luxor obelisks in situ.

Colonnade of Amenhotep III

The Colonnade of Amenhotep III, 14 columns of papyrus-bud capital form, each 19 metres tall, standing in two rows of seven, is one of the most powerful architectural spaces in Egypt, the columns rising to their original height and the roof gone, so the blue sky serves as a ceiling above the processional corridor. Painted reliefs on the colonnade walls (now faded but still decipherable) record the Opet Festival procession in a continuous narrative sequence that gives the most detailed surviving account of the annual renewal ceremony of the New Kingdom pharaohs. The light in the late afternoon (about 4–5 PM) rakes along the colonnade wall reliefs and enhances their legibility considerably.

Roman chapel

Besides, the Roman chapel embedded within the temple's innermost sanctuary, where the Third Century AD legionaries of the Roman garrison converted the innermost sanctuary of Amenhotep's temple into a shrine of the Roman imperial cult, plastering over the Egyptian wall paintings and painting Roman imperial frescoes on top, is one of the most vivid physical encounters with the layered history of Egyptian temples. Also, the Roman plaster has partially fallen away in places, revealing the original Egyptian painting beneath.

In other areas, both layers are visible simultaneously. The later conversion of the temple's forecourt into a mosque (the Abu el-Haggag Mosque, still in active use, accessible by a bridge from the temple's main forecourt) added a third religious layer to a site already carrying 3,400 years of continuous religious function.

It is open daily 6 AM–10 PM (entry about EGP 160). The evening visit (from about 7 PM after the temple is illuminated) gives the top atmosphere. The floodlit columns against the dark sky are remarkably dramatic, the crowds thinner than the daytime visit, and the temperature comfortable year-round. Combining it with a morning Karnak visit and an evening return to Luxor gives the ideal Luxor single-day itinerary.