GARNI PAGAN TEMPLE

When you are in Armenia and skip Garni Temple it’s unforgivable.

One of the most visited and must see sight in Armenia is Garni Temple and surroundings as well as Garni gorge.

Deep and rich history of this site can be felt with every step made closer and closer to the temple.

 

It attracts guests with its 76 AD the only survived Pagan temple. Here one can find also the ruins of the two-story royal palace and the bath built in Roman style built in the end of 3rd c. One will find interesting especially the mosaic on the floor of the bath made from 15 varieties of local colorful stones..
The walls that surround the area from 3rd millennium BC are also impressive. Excavations in this area and surroundings showed that this region had a power in metallurgy and trading in Mesopotamia and Asia Minor.
The temple of Garni is one of the ancient architectural sights in Armenia. It was built in honor to the goddess of sun Mythra. The statue of goddess was on the altar inside the temple.

Garni temple design was influenced from classical Hellenistic style , but its architectural solution undoubtedly is very similar to an Armenian old Temple Musasir dedicated to God Haldi from 9 c. B.C.

24 colons decorate the facade of Garni Temple. Some say this number is dedicated to 24 hours of day. Triangular roof with the heads of lions on edges crowns the colons. All the ornaments , human figures, grape and pomegranate shapes carved from hard basalt stone , show how developed was the culture and architecture in ancient Armenia.

On the rooftop there is a square window that is right above another hall on the bottom of the room in the middle of the temple. At certain period during daytime through the top window sunshine could get the hall on the floor full of water (some say oil). The sunlight was reflecting from the water on the walls of the temple covered with golden tiles. One can imagine how magical was the interior of the temple and the statue of Mitra embellished with golden sunlight.

 

Garni Temple also was not an exception to go through earthquakes that happened periodically in Armenia. In 1679 it was among the numerous buildings that were destroyed from earthquake.

For several years the skilled specialists and locals had been collecting the pieces of destroyed temple from surroundings. It took 11 years to understand how it was constructed before and reconstruct the temple with the same technique, keeping all the details to give the same perfect look.

 

The area of the temple is protected by the deep gorge from 3 sides. The balcony around the temple watches Azat River in Garni gorge full of beautiful rock colons cut in diamond shape. This rock formations are known as Symphony of Stones. Here one will find granite, basalt, slag and andesite. In the gorge there is a bridge remained from 16th c. It leads to Khosrov National Preserve.

After adoption of Christianity in Armenia, Garni temple and the palace were used as summer residence for royal families.