The city of Esna in Upper Egypt is built over a thick highly permeable fill layer. In the past decade, a new barrage was built across the River Nile leaving the city directly in the upstream side of the barrage. In the city center, a unique, of its architectural design, Pharos temple exists. The Temple stands about 12.00m below the ground level of the surrounding urbanized area. The increase of water level in the barrage upstream caused an increase in the groundwater level in the whole city. Due to the low level of the temple, a considerable amount of water continued to percolate towards the temple area and its surroundings causing rapidly increasing impacts on the temple walls. In order to diagnose the problem and recommend the solution, an intensive geotechnical study was undertaken. The soil in the top 30 meters was classified into three main layers. The top layer is a heterogeneous fill with very high hydraulic conductivity. This layer is followed by a silt layer with an almost uniform thickness of 10m. The silt layer rests on a sandy layer that extends till the end of executed borings. Two finite element programs were developed to study the groundwater condition in the present time as well as through the next 30 years. The outcome indicated that severe deterioration of the situation is foreseen. Alternative remedy scenarios were introduced. A conservative solution had to be recommended in order to preserve the high value temple.