Debod in Madrid

by Mona
(Barcelona, Spain)

As an Egyptian living in Spain, I love taking my friends and colleagues to the Temple of Debod in Madrid. I feel proud to show off the gorgeous architecture that reflects over the water. It also looks really beautiful at night with the lighting.

I don't know much about its history, but from what I know, it comes from near Aswan and was dedicated to the God Amun and the Goddess Isis...

During the 60's when the Aswan Dam was built, many monuments and temples were in danger of being damaged and flooded, so Egypt got a lot of help from countries all over the world to move and rebuild the temples in other places. Spain lent a hand with some of the most important temples, like Abu Simbel, and so as a "Thank You", Egypt gave us Debod!

Altough I think that Egypt should keep its artifacts at home, I am glad we got this temple so I can visit it often. It's right near the Royal Palace of Madrid, which is a lovely spot for it. I also just read that it is the only ancient Egyptian temple outside of Egypt, so I'll count myself lucky :-)