Philae Temple of Isis

The Isis temple at Philae is reached by open motorboat across water that is usually mirror-flat in the early morning. Its first pylon, the birth house, Trajan's kiosk and the colonnades are all substantially intact, and the setting — an island of granite and palms — makes it the loveliest temple site in Egypt.

When the first Aswan dam was built in 1902 the island spent most of each year submerged, and visitors rowed above the capitals looking down at the columns. The High Dam would have drowned it permanently, so between 1972 and 1980 it was dismantled and rebuilt 500 metres away on Agilkia island, reshaped to match the original.

Mainly Ptolemaic, from the 3rd century BC, with Roman additions. It was the last place in Egypt where the old religion was practised — the final hieroglyphic inscription anywhere dates from 394 AD and was carved here, and the temple was not closed until Justinian ordered it around 550 AD.