Dive Sites - Temple Sentries

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Even thousands of years ago many cultures protected their sanctuaries against intruders.
We have decided to use cats for the task of temple sentries, since they were worshiped as gods in ancient Egypt. Divers who want to reach the 'Atlantis' temple have to pass by the Avenue of Cats. The huge animals are 10 foot tall. The east side of the temple area is often overlooked as a dive site. There, too, the cliffs reach vertically upward to then form inclined slopes.

Camera Position: On the temple base in between the cats.
You can pan the above panorama using the mouse. Click and hold the left mouse button and move the mouse pointer right, left, up or down to pan the image. In the lower navigation bar you can use the + and - buttons to zoom in and out of the image.
Different and larger panoramic images can be found under 'Panoramas' in the menu to the left.
Have fun exploring the scuba park which at this point was still dry.


Three metre tall cats form an avenue leading to the temple.
The distance inside the row is 3m, between the rows 5m.
You often find more than 20 sturgeons circling among the statues.

Some of these likable fellows are up to 2m long.
The these huge fish look and move a bit like sharks.
Sturgeons have a sucking mouth and are harmless.

If you remain calm they aren't shy at all.
From a short distance they can be observed easily.
Whoever touches or chases them will be banned from diving here.

Chasing them is not necessary, since they come by themselves.
You can enjoy the peaceful contact with these large fish...
...and have enough time to take pictures of them - but without the flash!

A sculptor molded the negatives of the cat statues in sand.
Each statue is therefore a carefully crafted, unique piece.
Then special concrete was poured into the molds.

When they had hardened they were taken out of their sand bed...
...and brought to the bottom of the lake, where they were set up.
Today they stand on the temple's base that looks like a flagstone path.

The reason: In the beginning the ground water pressure was spread over 3000m². When the rock walls were built pressure was concentrated on the last 200m²
After several pumps failed, the water pushed the concrete slab upward within a few hours and caused the aiming rod to lean.
Although we quickly brought the situation under control, cracks remained in the concrete. In order to spread the load more evenly, the concrete slab was reinforced.

With the right lighting the scenery took on a mythical aura.
But the temple area has disappeared under the rising water.
By now the temple can only be visited by divers.