West bank Aswan
West Bank Aswan Sights
The west bank of the river at Aswan has several attractions. You can probably visit most of them in a single day.
Turning left after getting off the ferry will bring you to the remains of another "unfinished obelisk". Until around 2010 the obelisk lay in the western quarry out in the desert where it had originally been partially carved out of the rock before being abandoned.
The hills above the river contain the Tombs of the Nobles, some of Egypt’s most ancient tombs dating back to the Old Kingdom. Several of these tombs can be visited.
To the south of the tombs on top of the hill and past the Aga Khan mausoleum is the Monastery of St Simon. It was built in the 7th century and rebuilt during the 10th century, by which time it was one of the largest Coptic Monasteries in Egypt, providing accommodation for around 300 monks. The monks that lived at the monastery would travel into Nubia with the aim of converting Nubians to Christianity. The Monastery was mostly destroyed by Saladin and his forces in 1173 and never rebuilt. In the lower level there are some remains of early Coptic paintings on the walls. Entrance 40LE (2020)
If you walk directly north from the monastery into the desert it is a beautiful hike through the rocks and dunes. You can keep within sight of the Nile and the city on your right hand side almost the whole time. After a couple of kilometers you will come to the remains of a quarry, a strange landscape scattered with granite boulders.
There is a ferry running between the east and west bank just north of Elephantine Island (5LE each way).
