Garni Temple
The Garni Temple is the only standing Greco-Roman colonnaded building in Armenia. Built in the Ionic order, it is located in the village of Garni, in central Armenia, around 30 km (19 mi) east of Yerevan. It is the best-known structure and symbol of pre-Christian Armenia. It has been described as the "easternmost building of the Graeco-Roman world" and the only extant Greco-Roman temple in the former Soviet Union.
| Garni Temple | |
|---|---|
The temple in 2021 | |
Location within Armenia | |
| General information | |
| Status | Museum (part of a larger protected area), occasional Hetanist (neopagan) shrine |
| Type | Pagan temple or tomb |
| Architectural style | Ancient Greek/Roman |
| Location | Garni, Kotayk Province, Armenia |
| Coordinates | 40.112421°N 44.730277°E |
| Completed | 1st or 2nd century AD |
| Destroyed | 1679 |
| Management | Armenian Ministry of Culture |
| Height | 10.7 metres (35 ft) |
| Technical details | |
| Material | Basalt |
| Floor area | 15.7 by 11.5 m (52 by 38 ft) |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect(s) | Alexander Sahinian (reconstruction, 1969–75) |
The structure was probably built by king Tiridates I in the first century AD as a temple to the sun god Mihr. After Armenia's conversion to Christianity in the early fourth century, it was converted into a royal summer house of Khosrovidukht, the sister of Tiridates III. According to some scholars it was not a temple but a tomb, and thus survived the destruction of pagan structures. It collapsed in a 1679 earthquake. Renewed interest in the 19th century led to excavations at the site in the early and mid-20th century, and its eventual reconstruction between 1969 and 1975, using the anastylosis method. It is one of the main tourist attractions in Armenia and the central shrine of Hetanism (Armenian neopaganism).