The town is spread out north and south and is mostly in ruins save for a few structures that are worth mentioning. The Roman bath is a mere outline on the ground as are most of the houses, but a few still sand, at least partially. Some even have fresco decorations on the interior walls. The most noteworthy of these is located just east of the Roman fortress. Thermal baths with frescoes were discovered here in 1948, but the desert has long since reclaimed them.

The Temples

Here, we also find a most interesting temple dedicated to Sobek-Re, that is sometimes referred to as the "Temple of Stone", located in the middle of the ancient town. It dates to between 323 and 330 BC during the Ptolemaic period, but has not been dated more precisely due to the absence of inscriptions.

The temple is made of blocks of yellow limestone and is substantially complete. The exterior of the temple was partially restored by the Egyptian Antiquities Service, and parts of the internal structure have been reinforced.

One of the most interesting aspects of this temple is that its roof is still place, offering us a sense of the atmosphere that once prevailed in all the temples of the Western Desert. The exterior, minus its damaged portico, looks like a square box, but this is deceiving. The interior of the temple is a labyrinth of rooms, stairways, corridors, cellars, tunnels and upper rooms of all sizes at different levels, and nooks and crannies complex enough to have caused early travelers into believing it to be the real labyrinth at the Hawara Pyramid. Specifically, there are fourteen rooms on either side of central corridor that leads to three chapels.

There are vestibules, a sanctuary and a few additional chambers. There is also a stairway to the roof which is worth the climb for the splendid view.

There is also a smaller temple was constructed mainly from mudbrick and dates to the Roman Period. The temple was dedicated to the crocodile god, Sobek-Re. The interior contains Ionic columns. Only the square core of the structure has survived and most of the outlying buildings are now destroyed.

The Fortress

Located to the west of the temple, the Roman fortress constructed during the reign of Diocletian as protection against the Blemmyes, is now a ruin. It was probably very similar to the forts that still stand at the Kharga Oasis and it probably served the same purpose. Dionysias was an outpost town receiving caravans from the Western Desert, which required a garrison as a guard against attack. As the first outpost in the Fayoum, it required good fortification.

The fortress was built of mudbrick and measured about 90 by 80 meters, with square towers at each corner and semicircular towers on the sides. Within the ruins of the fortress are the remains of a Christian basilica. There are also a few stone capitals, some having Corinthian design.

Some records of this fort survive, indicating that at some point the Roman soldiers were probably conscripts. At the end of Rome's rule, soldiers were not very eager to serve.

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