The temple and its moat-like lake.

Madrid is at almost the geographic center of Spain, and all the distances in the country are measured from “Kilometre Zero” in the city’s Puerta del Sol. So, it’s a bit of a culture shock to realize that the Egyptian-looking building on top of a hill is, in fact Egyptian. I’ve visited Egypt several times, but, even if you aren’t into “things Egyptian,” you can’t help but wonder how an Egyptian temple came to be situated almost in the center of Spain.

The Debod Temple was built -- or rather, re-assembled -- near the Royal Palace, in the Parque de la Montana, the site of a former Army barracks, on top of a hill called Principe Pio Hill. Surrounding the building is a clear, moat-like lake and the whole thing stands inside a considerable garden, with palm trees making the temple seem at home, even against the backdrop of Madrid’s skyscrapers.

To the west, the hilltop site gives a view of the vast Casa de Campo recreational area on the other side of the Manzanares River.

Upstairs is the good stuff. Models show how the temple probably looked in its heyday, and how that stretch of the Nile looked before the coming of the dams. Better still, a series of computers gave a commentary -- in English, if desired -- describing the history of the temple, how the temples were rescued from the rising waters and, most importantly, how the Temple of Debod came to be in Spain.

Many Egyptian artefacts came to Europe in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, often, without the courtesy of asking the Egyptians. But, this wasn’t the case with the Temple of Debod. As late as 1960, it stood on its original site, and was freely given to Spain by the Egyptian authorities.

Originally, the Temple of Debod stood on the right bank of the River Nile, just above the First Cataract near Aswan, dedicated to the god Amun and the goddess Isis. In 1898, the British, who then controlled Egypt, decided to dam the Nile at Aswan, the work being completed in 1902. With typical short-sightedness, they completely disregarded the fact that some important monuments would be lost beneath the surface of the resulting lake, including the beautiful Temple of Isis on Philae Island, and the not-so-well-regarded Temple of Debod nearby,

However, once a year, during the annual flood, the sluice gates of the Aswan Dam would be opened, and it was possible, for a few short weeks, to visit the temples. Nevertheless, being submerged beneath the lake for most of the time wasn’t very good for the temples, especially Debod, which was already in a ruinous state when it was discovered.

In the late 1950s, a new dam was proposed. This would be the massive, Russian-built High Dam, and it was quickly realized that its building would cause many more monuments, including the colossal rock temple of Abu Simbel, 270 kilometres to the south of the dam, to be lost below the surface of the new Lake Nasser.

The Director-General of UNESCO appealed for any help that might be forthcoming from other countries, and over 50 nations responded. The selected monuments were dismantled, and re-assembled piece by piece above the rising waters. Even the solid rock forming the mighty Abu Simbel was sawn into blocks and re-assembled around an artificially-built "mountain."

Some temples were a little less fortunate in having new sites found for them. But, the Egyptians decided they would be dismantled anyway, and presented to the countries which helped them most.

A total of ten temples, including the Philae Temple, between the two dams, were rescued and relocated, And, a further ten were dismantled, and the blocks taken to Elephantine Island, below the dams, to await disposal.

The visit filled a gap for me. When I visited Egypt, all the guidebooks said was, "Several other temples were issued, and given, as a token of appreciation, to the countries which had helped with the project."

The commentary in the temple filled some of the missing spaces. It told about temples being re-assembled in the USA, the Netherlands, Italy and Germany. But, of course, the one we are interested in went to Spain.

Debod was the first temple to be rescued, in 1960, although not in its entirety. The floors, the pylons or walls, and the pier leading to the Nile were all abandoned on the site. The decision to present it to Spain wasn’t taken until 1968, and, the following year, a Spanish team went to Elephantine Island, to crate up the blocks for shipment to Spain.

The blocks were then rafted down the River Nile to Alexandria, where they were transferred to a ship for Valencia, arriving there on the June 18, 1972.

They were then transferred to Madrid, where a team of builders and Egyptologists assembled them, opening the completed temple to the public July 18, 1972.

Since then, the Temple of Debod has become an icon not of Egypt, but of Madrid, Spain. Indeed, when I dud a Google search for a little bit of information on its original location and movement, I could find nothing … apart from countless statements that, if I was ever in Madrid, I shouldn’t miss this sightseeing visit. So, it would seem that if you need information on Temple of Debod before 1972, the only thing you can do is visit it!