Templo de Debod, Madrid, Spain
An ancient Egyptian temple is that last thing thing you'd expect to find right smack in the center of a European city, but it's exactly what you'll find in Madrid's Parque Del Oeste (The West Park). How did it end up there? Well, when the Great Aswan Dam was built in 1960, several archaeoligal sites and monuments were threatened. Abu Simbel was one of these sites. UNESCO made an international appeal to save these sites. Spain was one of those that answered the call, and the Temple of Debod was presented in 1968 to Spain as a little thank you for their assistance with saving the temples at Abu Simbel. The Temple was open to the public in 1972.
Oh, and just to let you know - not all archaeological sites impacted by the damming of the Nile at Aswan were so fortunate. Some were deemed to be of little importance and they were not moved, and are now inundated by the waters of the Nile.
Oh, and just to let you know - not all archaeological sites impacted by the damming of the Nile at Aswan were so fortunate. Some were deemed to be of little importance and they were not moved, and are now inundated by the waters of the Nile.
(I'll be adding a post about Abu Simbel sometime in the future)
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