In the Parque de la Montaña, near the center of
the city one finds the most surprising monuments of
Madrid, the Templo de Debod.
This authentic Egyptian
temple was built in the fourth century B.C. at the village
of Debod, near the sacred temple island of Philae. The
Debod Temple was dedicated to the gods Amon and Isis.
With the construction of the Aswan
High Dam in Egypt between 1960 and 1970, many historical
monuments were in danger of being flooded. Spanish engineers
helped the Egyptian government to move these monuments
to safe areas. In 1968

Egypt
donated one of these monuments, the Templo de Debod,
to Spain in recognition of their support.
The temple was moved to Madrid and
reconstructed in the Parque de la Montaña (an
extension of the larger Parque del Oeste) at the site
of a former army barracks, near the
Plaza
de España. The temple was officially opened
in 1972. Inside an exhibition depicts the reconstruction
of the temple in Madrid.