Siwa Oasis
An oasis between the Qattara Depression and the Great Sand Sea, 50 kilometres from the Libyan border and 560 kilometres from Cairo. It was home to the oracle of Amun, and its palm groves, salt lakes and mud brick old town sit in deep desert.
- Where
- Siwa, Matrouh, Egypt
- Grade
- Heritage site
- Worth
- 10 points collected on site, plus 3 for its grade
- Coordinates
- 29.2053, 25.5194
Get the Siwa Oasis stamp
Open LOQAH when you are at Siwa Oasis. It checks where you are once, at that moment, and the stamp is yours: confirmed on site in gold and struck with the date. It goes into your Matrouh volume with your photos and a note.
Near Siwa Oasis
Temple of the Oracle of Amun 3.4 km
The ruined sanctuary of Amun's oracle on the rock of Aghurmi in Siwa, famous across the ancient world. Alexander the Great crossed the desert to consult it, and from its hill the palm groves of the oasis spread below.
Farafra Oasis 337 km
A depression of 980 square kilometres in the Western Desert, between the Dakhla and Bahariya oases, the second largest in western Egypt and the least populated. Its hot springs and palm gardens lie close to the White Desert.
White Desert 339 km
A protected area in the Farafra depression, set up in 2002, about 45 kilometres north of Qasr al-Farafra. Wind has carved its white chalk into mushrooms and towers that look like snow in daylight and glow under the moon.
Bahariya Oasis 339 km
An oval valley in the Western Desert about 370 kilometres from Cairo, 94 kilometres long, with springs, palm groves and the town of Bawiti. It is known for the Valley of the Golden Mummies and as the gateway to the Black and White Deserts.
El Alamein War Cemetery 377 km
A Commonwealth war cemetery on the desert coast west of Alexandria, for those who died in the Western Desert in the Second World War. Rows of headstones lie in a quiet walled garden, with a memorial listing names of the missing.
Abu Mena 438 km
The remains of a town, monastery and pilgrimage centre of late antiquity, about 50 kilometres south-west of Alexandria, built around the tomb of Saint Menas. Few walls still stand, but the foundations of the great basilica are easy to trace.
Wadi Al-Hitan 439 km
A desert valley about 150 kilometres south-west of Cairo, listed by UNESCO in 2005 for its hundreds of fossils of the earliest whales. The skeletons, some with small hind legs, show how whales moved from land to sea.
Abu al-Abbas al-Mursi Mosque 475 km
A mosque, mausoleum and Sufi shrine in the Anfoushi quarter, honouring the 13th century mystic Abu'l Abbas al-Mursi, who is buried here. Its tall minaret and domes in cream stone stand out near the seafront of the Eastern Harbour.
Questions
Where is Siwa Oasis?
Siwa Oasis is in Siwa, Matrouh, Egypt. The nearest other LOQAH stamps are Temple of the Oracle of Amun (3.4 km), Farafra Oasis (337 km), White Desert (339 km).
How do I get the Siwa Oasis stamp?
Open LOQAH when you are at Siwa Oasis and get its stamp. The app checks where you are once, at that moment, and the stamp goes into your Matrouh volume, confirmed on site, with the date.
I have been to Siwa Oasis before. Can I still have the stamp?
Yes. Add it from Earlier trips in your Matrouh volume, with the date if you know it, or import your Google Timeline and LOQAH matches the places you were.
Collect your first stamp.
LOQAH is free on iPhone and Android, in India and 20 more countries, with more countries on the way. Stand at a place, collect its stamp, and keep every trip in a passport that grows.