Festivals held at the Temple of Bubastis once attracted more than 700,000 revellers who sang, danced, feasted, consumed great quantities of wine and offered sacrifices to the goddess Bastet. Khufu and Khafre started building the temple during the 4th dynasty, but additions were made over about 17 centuries. Many fine stelae and pieces of statuary found here have been re-erected in a sculpture garden, while the temple itself (to the right) is now just a pile of rubble.
To the left of the sculpture garden are the slumping mudbrick remains of a palace and the cemetery with five tombs (kept locked) where many bronze statues of cats were found.
The site is roughly 2.5km south of the train station. Ask taxi and tuk-tuk drivers for 'Tell Basta'. If you're coming from Cairo by taxi, the site is on the southern edge of town; head along the main entry road until you get to the mammoth overpass and turn right.