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I went out the other day for a photowalk to Orient Square, near Royal Palace when I saw that there were not clouds in this zone around the Opera Theatre , that was the subject that I wanted to shot. So in between my way to the site, at Plaza de España, I decided to take my way to Debod Temple where the clouds were and the sun was setting down. As always, this place that is at only 50 m from my home in Madrid is outstanding. The unusual view of this old Egyptian architecture and the emplacement with a level that permits to see the sunset produces usually such amazing views like the one that I shot this day. This is a so typical frame from Madrid, but I love it.
Localization:
The Temple of Debod is an ancient Egyptian temple which was rebuilt in Madrid, Spain.
The temple was built originally 15 km south of Aswan, in southern Egypt very close to the first cataract of the Nile and to the great religious center dedicated to the goddess Isis, in Philae. In the early 2nd century BC, Adikhalamani (Tabriqo), the Kushite king of Meroë, started its construction by building a small single room chapel dedicated to the god Amun. It was built and decorated on a similar design to the later Meroitic chapel on which the Temple of Dakka is based. Later, during the reigns of Ptolemy VI, Ptolemy VIII and Ptolemy XII of the Ptolemaic dynasty, it was extended on all four sides to form a small temple, 12 X 15 m, which was dedicated to Isis of Philae. The Roman emperors Augustus and Tiberius completed its decorations.
From the quay, a long processional way leads to the stone-built enclosure wall, through three stone pylon gateways and finally to the temple itself. The pranaos, which had four columns with composite capitals collapsed in 1868, and is now lost. Behind it lay the original sanctuary of Amun, the offering table room and a later sanctuary with several side-rooms and stairs to the roof.
In 1960, due to the construction of the Great Dam of Aswan and the consequent threat posed to several monuments and archeological sites, UNESCO made an international call to save this rich historical legacy. As a sign of gratitude for the help provided by Spain in saving the temples of Abu Simbel, the Egyptian state donated the temple of Debod to Spain in 1968.
The temple was rebuilt in one of Madrid's parks, the Parque del Oeste, near the royal palace of Madrid, and opened to the public in 1972. The reassembled gateways appear to have been placed in a different order than when originally erected. Compared to a photo of the original site, the gateway topped by a serpent flanked sun appears not to have been the closest gateway to the temple proper.It constitutes one of the few works of ancient Egyptian architecture which can be seen outside Egypt and the only one of its kind in Spain.
Exif Data:
Canon EOS 450D | Sigma 10-20mm f4-5.6 DC EX HSM @ 20 mm | f11, 0.3s, ISO 100.
Picture from 3 exposures on a tripod Manfrotto 055XPROB + 322RC2 Joystick Head @ [-2 EV .. 0 .. +2 EV ]
Processing:
Lightroom for catalog > Photoshop to generate HDR file> Tonemapped at Photomatix 4.0 > Hue/Saturation + Topaz Adjust + Noiseware + High Pass filter Sharpening technique at Photoshop CS5.
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