Opening Hours
Fri, 21 Aug - Sun, 27 Sep 2026
9.00am - 9.00pm
Gardens by the Bay’s first Ancient Egypt-themed floral display, Lilytopia, presents a side of the country rarely seen. While Egypt is often linked to vast dunes and monumental stone structures, this display brings to life its gardens and vibrant colours — elements that once defined its landscapes and culture.
Back then, lush gardens lined the Nile and sat within palaces and temples. Temples were painted with hieroglyphs using mineral and botanical pigments, depicting myth, daily life and belief systems. Over time, these colours have faded, leaving behind the stone structures familiar today.
Lilytopia revisits this palette lost through time. Visitors journey through Nile-fed gardens, vividly coloured temple settings and artefacts inspired by the Egypt of long ago. Lilies in a spectrum of colours and sweet fragrance anchor the display. A key highlight is the Egyptian Blue Lotus — a water lily revered as a symbol of rebirth and the sun, so prized it was buried with pharaohs.
Fri, 21 Aug - Sun, 27 Sep 2026
9.00am - 9.00pm
Admission charge to Flower Dome applies
Flower Dome
Witness the interpretation of a formal ancient Egyptian garden in Flower Dome. Such gardens were often walled and rectangular, with a central pool containing fish and aquatic plants. Lilytopia’s pond also pays tribute to the Nile, whose waters nourished fertile land and sustained agriculture, communities and gardens amid Egypt’s arid landscape.
The 4.5m-tall façade, inspired by the Great Temple of Abu Simbel in southern Egypt, anchors the display in Flower Dome. It recreates the four colossal, seated statues of King Ramesses II that dominate the original rock-cut temple, which he commissioned around 1264 BC.
Witness the colourful hieroglyphs on the walls and columns, inspired by the Temple of Hathor at Dendera, one of Egypt’s best-preserved temple complexes. Its surviving painted carvings and plant motifs offer a glimpse of the vivid palette that once adorned Egypt.
Witness the solar barque in Flower Dome, a sacred vessel in ancient Egyptian belief associated with the sun god Ra's daily journey across the sky and nightly passage through the underworld.
Presented in conjunction with Lilytopia 2026, this exhibition by Egyptian artist Salwa Elhamamsy offers a contemporary artistic perspective on Egypt’s landscapes and the beauty of its water lilies. Working primarily in oils, Salwa embraces a romantic, dreamlike Impressionist style, reflecting on the quiet poetry of nature and memory.
21 - 23 Aug 2026
Mediterranean Garden, Flower Dome
In collaboration with:
