Great Sphinx of Giza in Luxor Las Vegas, Nevada
Luxor Las Vegas is a hotel and casino located in Las Vegas Strip, Paradise, Nevada. It is named after the city of Luxor in Egypt. It is said to be the second largest hotel in Las Vegas, next to MGM Grand and the third largest in the world.
Are you familiar with the Great Sphinx of Giza? It is commonly called as Sphinx, a mythical creature which resembles lion’s body and a human head. In Egypt, it is located on the Giza Plateau on the west bank of the Nile in Giza.
You can also find a Sphinx statue in front of Luxor hotel in Las Vegas.
Below are some images I took during my visit last 2008 in Las Vegas
Designed by hotel architect Veldon Simpson and interior designer Charles Silverman, the Luxor has received recognition as being among the most recognizable hotels on the strip because of its unique design. The main portion of the hotel is a 365-foot (111 m)-high, 30-story pyramid encased in 11 acres of dark bronze glass. The guest rooms are situated on the outer walls of the pyramid and are reached by riding in “inclinators” that travel along the inner surface of the pyramid at a 39-degree angle. The hotel also features a 29 million cubic feet (820,000 m³) atrium, which was the largest open atrium in the world when it was built in 1993. The hotel is marked by a 140-foot (43 m)-high obelisk and a 110-foot (34 m)-tall re-creation of the Great Sphinx of Giza.
Great Sphinx of Giza and a bit view of the Luxor Sky Beam
The light of the Luxor
The tip of the pyramid contains a fixed-position spotlight that points directly upward and is claimed to be the brightest beam in the world at over 42.3 billion candle power. The light is created by 39 Xenon lamps which use computer designed curved mirrors to collect the light and focus it into one intense beam. According to the Luxor website, “engineers say that an astronaut could read a newspaper by Luxor’s Sky Beam from ten miles into space” and “on a clear night, the Sky Beam is visible up to 250 miles away to an airplane at cruising altitude. more here.
