Temple of Debod

This is an Egyptian temple dating back to the 2nd century BC, transported to Madrid’s Cuartel de la Montaña Park. The temple was donated to Spain by the Egyptian government to save it from floods following the construction of the great Aswan Dam.

Works on the temple began at the beginning of the 2nd century BC at the orders of the Meroë King Adijalamani, who built a chapel dedicated to the god Amun and the goddess Isis. This chapel was decorated with high reliefs. Subsequent kings of the Ptolemaic dynasty built new rooms around the original core, thereby enlarging the temple. After Egypt was annexed by the Roman Empire, the emperors Augustus and Tiberius – and possibly Hadrian, too – finished off the construction and decoration of the building.

In the 6th century AD, following Nubia’s conversion to Christianity, the temple was sealed off and abandoned. In the 20th century, owing to the construction of the dam, the Egyptian government gave the temple as a gift to the city of Madrid and it was transported and rebuilt stone by stone in its current location. It was opened to the public in 1972. The reconstruction in Madrid kept the building’s original orientation; that is to say, from East to West. To help visitors understand the meaning of this magnificent location, its decorative motifs and its history, scale models and videos can be seen and audiovisual material is projected on the walls.

For conservation reasons in order to maintain constantly stable environmental conditions and the integrity of the monument, visits inside the temple may be subject to temporary entry restrictions  to rooms and chapels and reductions in the permitted number of visitors. Only 30 people are allowed inside the building at the same time for a maximum of 30 minutes. 

Group visits inside the building have also been suspended. 

These measures refer to visits inside the monument. If you only wish to walk along the platforms, entry is unrestricted during the temple opening hours.  

The interior of the Temple remains closed to visits from 27 May 2017 until further notice.