Local Attractions

Clock Square itself and the first stretch of Luxor Street form the daily environment of any guest. Bakeries selling hot baladi bread, juice stands pressing sugar cane and mango in season, pharmacies, mobile phone shops and exchange offices line the street. It is not a sightseeing district. It is simply ordinary Upper Egyptian city life, observed without tourist filter, and a short evening walk here explains Qena better than any guidebook.

A few minutes away stands the Coptic Orthodox Archbishopric of Qena, reminder that the governorate holds a large Christian community with long history. Moreover, the mosque of Sheikh Abdel Rahim al Qenawi, the Sufi saint whose shrine is the most important religious site of the city, is reachable by short walk or tuk tuk. His annual moulid transforms the surroundings with pilgrims, music and street stalls. Non Muslim visitors usually admire the building from outside, and modest clothing is expected in the area.

For quiet, the Nile corniche is the answer. Families walk there after sunset, tea sellers set plastic chairs along the river, and the heat of the day finally releases. It is advisable to go around sunset, when the light over the west bank is at its best and the city traffic stays behind.

Across the bridge, about six kilometres from the hotel, lies Dendera. The Temple of Hathor was completed mainly in Ptolemaic and Roman times and preserves its roof, its crypts and a hypostyle hall whose ceiling colours were recently cleaned to spectacular effect. On the rear exterior wall, a relief shows Cleopatra VII with her son Caesarion. The famous zodiac in the roof chapel is a cast, the original having been removed to the Louvre in the nineteenth century, but the chapel is still worth the climb.

Eating in Qena is inexpensive and local. Koshary shops, ful and taameya stalls, feteer bakeries and grilled chicken restaurants surround the square. Qena is also historically known for pottery, especially the porous qulla water jars that keep water cool without refrigeration, and a small one makes a practical and very local souvenir.