Rehabilitation & refurbishment Isna temple vicinity (Khnum)

 

  
   
   Location : Luxor, Egypt    Year : 2008  

 Owner : Supreme Council of

               Antiquities

  

 Work-scope : Preliminary

     Design

 
         
 
Historic reports from the early 19th century show the town of Isna, near Luxor, to be dilapidated and generally in a bad state... however beautiful houses still existed in its centre like Hassan Bey’s, who was mayor at the time and overlooked the main square as did the old mosque, while the port of Isna was reached by a small street that opened on to another square that overlooked the Nile... those same reports also state that on the western side of the main square, behind the houses was the Grand Temple of Isna with its hall of a depth of 16 metres and a width double that... the rest of the temple remaining beneath the town...

The Khnum temple lies in the centre of a constellation of historic buildings in Isna. There is the Old ‘Amry Mosque’s minaret to its east, the ruins of the Small Isna Temple in the vicinity of the town, while to the south are a historic monastery and church. On the east bank of the Nile are ruins of yet another temple.

Despite this cultural wealth, the town of Isna still finds itself in a similar state of dilapidation as witnessed almost two hundred years ago, and one our heritage plan that focuses on the cultural heart of the town aims to address. It would start by upgrading the area around the Khnum temple, through

  • The conservation and adaptive reuse of the historic houses overlooking the temple.
  • Integrating a visitor center and services into the fabric of the town while providing a series of stepped platforms to reach the level of the temple, some 9 meters below street level
  • Relocating all non-historic structures within the proposed extent of the temple to continue the archaeology
  • Overhauling the bazaars leading in from the street side
  • Overhauling the tourist port of Isna