Luxor (Egypt)

Luxor is a city in Upper (southern) Egypt and the capital of Luxor Governorate. As the site of the Ancient Egyptian city of Thebes, Luxor has frequently been characterized as the "world's greatest open-air museum", as the ruins of the temple complexes at Karnak and Luxor stand within the modern city. Thousands of tourists from all around the world arrive annually to visit these monuments, contributing greatly to the economy of the modern city. The economy of Luxor, like that of many other Egyptian cities, is heavily dependent upon tourism. Large numbers of people also work in agriculture, particularly sugarcane. A controversial tourism development plan aims to transform Luxor into a vast open-air museum. The master plan envisions new roads, five-star hotels, glitzy shops, and an IMAX theatre. Over a thousand sphinx statues lined the road now being excavated which was covered by silt, homes, mosques and churches.