The facade of the iconic Winter Palace in Luxor
luxor it is a torrid place during most of the year. This city built about ancient Thebes , capital of the New Kingdom of Ancient Egypt, rests on the eastern bank of the Nile.
**The dusty asphalt and the temples (Karnak and Luxor)** dedicated to the ancient pharaohs coexist in the most popular tourist destination in the North African country after Cairo.
There are plenty of reasons to visit this place. On the other side of the river, on the western side, is one of the largest concentrations of archaeological remains in the world: the Valley of the Kings, Medinat Habu, the Colossi of Memnon or the temple of Hathsepsut they swirl in a few square kilometers.
When Howard Carter arrived in Egypt in the early years of the 20th century Luxor was a very different place from today. The British Egyptologist who in 1922 would discover Tutankhamun's tomb he settled in a city where the first foreign visitors were just beginning to arrive.
Most of them children of European elites attracted by its archaeological wonders, as well as by the climate –dry and hot, ideal for curing certain illnesses– promoted by the tourist brochures of the time.
If walls could talk...
Today in Luxor lives the chaotic traffic of Egyptian cities with the serenity of its sites. The endless lines of tourists getting on and off the boats docked on the Nile with the locals kneeling to pray before the mosques.
The messy modern architecture of a population that continues to grow with buildings that, although sometimes we do not realize it, exude history through their facades.
THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE DISCOVERY
An example of the latter is the Winter Palace. This hotel was a direct witness to what is possibly the most famous archaeological find of the 20th century. From the steps of this colonial-style building, Carter announced to reporters that he had just discovered the last nearly intact tomb of an Egyptian pharaoh.
The November 26, 1922 the British Egyptologist, accompanied by his patron Lord Carnarvon, spread the news: the tomb of the young King Tut, designed for the eternal rest of the pharaoh, contained hundreds of priceless objects, in addition to a mummy in perfect condition.
The hotel garden, full of exotic plants
From then on the Winter Palace became journalists' operations center who traveled to this corner of Africa for the details of the discovery.
Also of the Egyptian and British authorities –despite the fact that it had already been recognized as an independent state, Egypt was still under British control– who wanted to talk with the authors of the feat.
Today the stairway from which Carter spoke continues to greet the visitor who arrives at this hotel with a decadent air.
The white color of its facade, the long corridors with high ceilings, the majestic hall and the enormous garden behind him give enough clues to imagine what life was like for the elites in colonial times.
also the nice terrace overlooking the Nile that inspired Agatha Christie while she was writing her novel Death on the Nile.
The Winter Palace was a direct witness to the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb
A HOTEL FOR THE ELITES
But the Winter Palace story begins before Carter's announcement. and of the first lines sketched by Christie. Contrary to Sofitel, the chain that currently manages the hotel, and the name of its main restaurant (1886 Restaurant), this establishment was founded in 1907.
This was reported by the local press at the time, which also reported the inaugural banquet that took place in the nearby Valley of the Kings.
Lord Carnarvon with Egyptian officers (Luxor, 1922)
At that time, interest in Ancient Egypt was no longer limited to the scientific expeditions of the time. The wealthy classes of countries like England, France, Germany and the United States they were drawn to the wonders that books and traveling exhibits told about this ancient civilization.
Hence the need to open hotels beyond Cairo to accommodate foreigners who came down the Nile.
For this purpose, the nearby Luxor Hotel was built in 1886, today apparently abandoned and the first of the hotels built abroad by Thomas Cook & Son , the family business from which the global tourism giant emerged.
An oasis by the Nile
LORD CARRNAVON'S SECOND HOME
The Winter Palace also quickly became the home of the wealthy men who financed the expeditions of the Egyptologists of the day. This was the case for George Edward Stanhope Molyneux Herbert, better known as Lord Carnarvon, an English aristocrat whom Carter convinced to make his obsession come true: finding the pharaonic tomb that had supposedly been spared centuries of looting and looting.
After more than five years of searching without results in the Valley of the Kings, Carnarvon gave Carter an ultimatum. Either he finally found something worthwhile or later that year he would cut off the funds that kept the expedition going.
The English lord collected his things from the famous hotel and returned to the islands. It was 1922. And a few months later Carnarvon would receive the telegram announcing the famous discovery.
Carter waited for the aristocrat to return to Egypt before opening the sealed door that led to the four chambers full of treasures. Still, Carnarvon could hardly savor the find. In March 1923, while staying in his suite at the Winter Palace, he suddenly fell ill. He to die a few days later in Cairo from a mosquito bite, which he ended up finishing off a man full of ailments.
The hotel became the operations center for journalists from all over the world
A CONVERSATION WITH CARTER
Despite Howard Carter had a house built near the Valley of the Kings – today open to visitors and which also houses a faithful replica of Tutankhamun's tomb – the Egyptologist maintained a special bond with this hotel for the rest of his life.
According to the biographer T.G.H. James In the last years of his life, Carter continued to frequent the lobby and porch of the Winter Palace.
Forgotten by the academy and the journalists who once made him famous, the famous archaeologist would sit and watch time go by in hotel recreation areas, eager to be able to chat with someone interested in knowing his history and that of his findings.
Today in this accommodation, which maintains the five-star rating, there is no longer a Carter to talk to, but a walk through his garden full of exotic plants or a tea on the terrace facing the Nile they are still a good way to close the visit to the city of the pharaohs.
Also a way to remember the times when Egypt was the center of attention of the world thanks to a mummy and the countless treasures of it.
A way to remember the time when Egypt was the center of attention of the world