Siwa Oasis

Egypt Hotels

Compare rates & save on Hotels in Egypt

Siwa Oasis Description

The Oasis of Siwa, lying in latitude 29° 12' north and longitude 25° 20' east in a wide depression in the Western Desert, 65ft/20m below sea level, is the most westerly of the Egyptian oases. Thanks to its remote and isolated situation it has preserved many old customs and characteristics.

Siwa is an attractive island of green under a sky that is always cloudless. The inhabitants are Berbers, with a mingling of bedouin and Sudanese slaves acquired in the course of the centuries. They speak their own Berber dialect, and usually Arabic as well. The oasis owes its fertility to its 200 or so springs, 80 of which are used for irrigation; in ancient times there were said to be a thousand springs. The main crops grown in the oasis are

... More >

Hobbies & Activities category: Agricultural area or museum; Region with significant interests; Well, spring, oasis, aqueduct

Tips

ACCESS. Reached from Mersa Matruh. Special authorization and permission to spend the night must be obtained from the Governor in Mersa Matruh or the Frontier Corps in Cairo. Travel in convoy of at least two vehicles obligatory; sufficient supplies of gasoline (petrol) and water must be carried; guide advisable. The desert track follows the caravan route used by Alexander the Great, through the Wadi el-Raml to Bir Goaiferi, then over the Kanayis Pass and past a number of wells to Ras el-Hamraya and Siwa. Another caravan route, now little used, runs from Cairo via Abu Roash to the Monastery of St Macarius in the Wadi Natrun, then west to the uninhabited Moghara Depression, and from there by way of the small oasis of El-Oara (Qaret Umm el-Zughayyar), which has a population of some 60, to Siwa. From Alexandria a caravan route runs southwest via Abu Mena to Moghara, where it joins the track from Cairo.

Attractions Near Siwa Oasis, Egypt