How to get to garni from Yerevan. The symbols of Armenia are Garni and Geghard - a temple and a fortress. Garni pagan temple: history

Which numbers in the thousands, has an eloquent description - “Museum Country”. Ancient civilizations once flourished in this region, leaving behind pagan temples. But there are also many Christian shrines in Armenia. Traveling around the country can be compared to a pilgrimage - there are so many monasteries and churches with miraculous icons.

The capital of Armenia is Yerevan. This is a very ancient city. But even beyond its borders, the state has countless attractions. One cannot remain silent about the natural beauties of Armenia. The South Caucasus (where, according to legend, Noah's ark landed after the Flood), the Garni Gorge - this is not a complete list of attractions. All of them attract tourists from different countries. In this article we will talk about a landmark that Armenia is rightfully proud of - Garni.

Gorge

There are several objects with this name in the country. Firstly, the village of Garni. It is located just twenty-eight kilometers from Yerevan. Such proximity to the capital makes it the most visited place by tourists. The village is located in Kotai region (Armenia). Garni is also a gorge along the bottom of which the Azat River flows. It is interesting because it contains pentagonal and hexagonal tall columns. The gorge is famous for its two temples. They are not connected by any single religion or chronology.

One of them is an ancient pagan temple. It is also called Garni. The second temple is Christian. It is called Geghard. Since both sacred buildings are located close to each other, they can be visited in one excursion. Another plus is the presence of a restaurant near the gorge. As a rule, travel agencies that take tourists to temples make a stop here for lunch. In addition to delicious dishes of Armenian cuisine, here you can enjoy folk songs and dances performed by professional groups.

Garni pagan temple: history

Armenia adopted Christianity very early - in the third century. But, oddly enough, a pagan temple has been preserved in the country. It was dedicated to Mithras, the sun god. The temple was saved from destruction by the fact that it was located in a strategically important place. The temple was fortified in the early ancient (Hellenistic) era. It was used as a fortress throughout the Middle Ages, until the earthquake of 1679 destroyed the powerful walls. During the Soviet period, the citadel was restored and turned into a museum.

According to a tablet with cuneiform writing found in Garni, before the emergence of the Mithras temple there was already a fortress here. King Argishti of Urartu (the same one who built the citadel of Erebuni, future Yerevan) conquered it in the first half of the eighth century BC. And the Garni Temple was erected by the Armenian king Trdat the First in 76 AD. Tacitus mentions its existence. When the temple ceased to serve its intended purpose, it, unlike many pagan temples, was not destroyed or converted into a Christian church. The building was simply included in the fortifications. made Garni their summer residence due to the favorable climate of the gorge and the inaccessibility of this place. For more than a thousand years, the fortress protected its inhabitants from enemy invasions.

Features of the location of the Garni fortress

The Temple of Mithras dominates the area. It is located in the Garni Gorge in Armenia, where the Azat River makes a sharp turn and forms a triangular cape. The temple was built on this raised platform. On both sides, the steep walls of the gorge serve as the most effective protection for the structure. The amazing slopes of this natural attraction, which look like hexagonal prisms made by human hands, are called “Symphony of Stones” by guidebooks to Armenia.

Where the supposed enemy could approach the fortress, an impregnable wall with fourteen defensive towers was built. They were unevenly distributed. Where it was easiest for the enemy to approach the walls, the towers were ten meters apart from each other, and where it was difficult - by 25-30 m. Despite the fact that the fortress garrison was huge in number, it was possible to get inside the citadel only through the only narrow the gate is one chariot wide.

Garni Fortress

Only approaching this citadel, seeing how it “floats” above the surrounding landscape, one is amazed at the skill of medieval architects. You are even more amazed when you come close to the fortress. Its towers and walls are built from huge blocks of smoothly hewn blue basalt. The blocks were not held together with mortar, but only stapled together and filled with lead at the seams. Moreover, the thickness of the fortress walls is more than two meters! Along the perimeter, the fortifications stretch for three hundred and fourteen meters. This increased defense capability was caused by the high status of the citadel, which served as the summer residence of the kings, as well as by the frequent attacks to which Armenia was subjected at that time. Garni courageously fought off all the claims of her enemies.

Temple of Mithras

This ancient building was built in the Hellenistic style. Garni Temple is a small rectangular building surrounded by a colonnade on the outside. In the middle of the building there is a hall with a portico, in which in the pre-Christian era there was a statue of Mithras. There are small vestibules leading to the temple, the entrance to which is richly ornamented. Wide steps ascend to the façade, each of them thirty centimeters high. Such elevation of the temple gives it solemnity and majesty. As for the small details of decoration, the deviation from the Hellenistic canons of decorating sacred buildings is surprising. Along with the atlases on the reliefs of the pylons and the acanthus leaf entwining the columns, national motifs were introduced: flowers, grapes, hazel leaves, pomegranate fruits.

Palace complex

The Garni Temple is not the only exhibit on the excursion program. After all, next to the sacred building there are other, no less interesting sights. On the opposite side of the citadel from the entrance there is a palace, or rather, what remains of it. From the traces of red and pink paint on the walls one can get an impression of the splendor of the royal chambers. There is a main hall at the cliff. Adjacent to the northern fortress wall are buildings that served as barracks for the garrison and housing for servants. There were baths on the territory of the ancient palace complex. These baths were built no later than the third century and consisted of five rooms. An antique mosaic has been preserved on the floor of the baths.

Geghard

This is one of the most famous monasteries in the Republic of Armenia. Garni and Geghard are located quite close to each other. Therefore, sightseers, having visited the ancient temple, immediately visit it, and it is not for nothing that the Christian temple is taken under the auspices of UNESCO. It arose at the dawn of the adoption of Christianity by Armenia. At that time, in 301, it consisted of several caves carved into the rock for cells in which hermits lived. It is believed that Gregory the Illuminator also lived in the monastery. At the beginning of the thirteenth century, a stone temple was built here at the expense of the princes of Mkhargrdzeli. And a quarter of a century later, three other churches were carved into the rock behind it. The monastery is also famous for the tombs of princes.

Republic of Armenia: attractions

Garni and Geghard are not the only places in the country of interest to tourists. Many attractions of Armenia are concentrated in its capital. In Yerevan you should see the Great Cascade and Erebuni Fortress. By going to the small town of Areni, you will be rewarded with tasting the best. There are many ancient temples and monasteries in the country. Recommended places to visit are Noravank, Haghpat, Geghardavank, Tatev, Sevanavank and Khor Virap.

The Garni fortress is mentioned by Tacitus in connection with events in Armenia in the first half of the 1st century. n. e. It was built by the Armenian king Trdat I (54-88) in 76, as evidenced by his inscription in Greek discovered there: “Helios! Trdat the Great, sovereign of Great Armenia, when the ruler built an agarak for the queen (and) this impregnable fortress in the eleventh year of his reign...”

This inscription is mentioned by Movses Khorenatsi, who attributed it, as well as the reconstruction of the fortress, to Trdat III the Great (286-330). The Garni fortress is one of the clearest evidence of the centuries-old culture of the pre-Christian period of Armenia. Garni fortress began to be built in the 2nd century BC and continued to be built during the ancient era and partly in the Middle Ages. Ultimately, the Armenian rulers made it impregnable. The citadel protected residents from foreign invasions for more than 1000 years.

The Armenian kings loved this place very much - not only because of its inaccessibility, but also because of the stunning climate - and turned it into their summer residence. The Garni fortress is located 28 km from the capital of Armenia - Yerevan. Strategically, the location of Garni was chosen extremely well. According to the Urartian cuneiform found on the territory of Garni, this fortress was conquered by the Urartian king Argishti in the first half of the 8th century BC, after which he gathered the population of Garni as a workforce and headed towards modern Yerevan, where he built the Erebuni fortress, which later became Yerevan.

The Garni fortress occupies a triangular cape dominating the surrounding area, surrounded by the Azat River on both sides, a deep gorge, and steep slopes serve as an impregnable natural boundary. The gorge is notable for its amazing, seemingly artificial slopes, which consist of regular hexagonal prisms. The latter stretch from the foot to the top of the gorge and are called “Symphony of Stones”. In the rest of the fortress, a powerful defensive system was created - a mighty fortress wall with fourteen towers.

In the area where the approach to the fortress was complicated by natural conditions, there are fewer towers, they are placed at a distance of 25-32 m from each other. And where the enemy could approach the walls relatively unhindered, the towers were erected more often and were located at a distance of 10-13.5 m from each other. The towers were rectangular in shape. In the Armenian Highlands, rectangular towers have existed since Urartian times.

Both the fortress walls and the towers were built from large blocks of local bluish basalt, without mortar, and connected with iron brackets, the corners of the connection being filled with lead. The fortress walls have a thickness of 2.07-2.12 m and a length along the entire perimeter (together with the towers) of 314.28 m. In some places, 12-14 rows up to 6-7 m high have been preserved. It was possible to get inside the fortress only through one the gate is as wide as one chariot. At the same time, the number of troops in the fortress was enormous.

Palace complex

The temple is made of smooth-hewn basalt blocks. The stones are about two meters long, fastened with staples and pins. The temple was built in Hellenistic architectural forms. Nine massive steps 30 centimeters high stretch across the entire width of the façade, giving the building majesty and solemnity. The pylons on the sides of the stairs are decorated with reliefs. They depict naked Atlanteans standing on one knee, with their arms raised up, supporting altars.

The temple throughout its composition is a peripter. The plan is a rectangular hall with a portico, surrounded by columns on the outside. The details of the temple, in contrast to the uniformity found in Greco-Roman structures, are designed with the variety inherent in local art. Along with numerous variants of acanthus leaf, Armenian motifs were introduced into the ornaments: pomegranate, grapes, hazel leaves, flowers. Basalt carving testifies to the first-class work of Armenian craftsmen. A shallow vestibule leads into the rectangular sanctuary, covered with a vault; the entrance is decorated with a richly ornamented casing. The dimensions of the sanctuary are small. There was only a statue of the deity here. This small temple served the king and his family.

As a result of a strong earthquake in 1679, the temple was almost completely destroyed; it was restored in 1966-1976. Near the temple there are the remains of an ancient fortress and a royal palace, as well as a bathhouse built in the 3rd century. The palace complex was located on the southern part of the fortress, distant from the entrance. The royal army and service personnel were located on the northern fortress territory. To the west of the temple, at the edge of the cliff, there was a ceremonial hall. A two-story residential building adjoined it from the north. Traces of pink and red paint preserved on the plaster remind of the rich decoration of the residential and state rooms of the palace. The bathhouse building included at least five rooms for various purposes, four of which had apses at the ends. The floors are decorated with Hellenistic mosaics.

In the 19th century, the ruins of the temple attracted the attention of numerous scientists and travelers, such as Chardin, Morier, Ker-Porter, Telfer, Chantre, Shnaaze, Marr, Smirnov, Romanov, Buniatyan, Trever, Manandyan. The French scientist Dubois de Montpere in 1834 tried to make a project for the reconstruction of the temple with approximate accuracy. At the end of the 19th century, the idea arose to transport all the details of the temple to Tiflis - the center of the Caucasian governorship and stack it here in front of the palace of the royal governor. Fortunately, this venture failed due to the lack of appropriate means of transportation.

At the beginning of the 20th century, archaeological work was carried out to discover details and measure the temple by a small expedition led by N. Ya. Marr. In the early 30s, the chief architect of Yerevan N. G. Buniatyan examined the Garni Temple and already in 1933 gave a project for the reconstruction of its original appearance. Academician I. A. Orbeli was also interested in the issue of restoring the pagan temple in Garni. In the mid-60s, restoration work was entrusted to the architect A. A. Sainyan. Wonderful Armenian craftsmen worked painstakingly for almost 10 years. Restoring the temple was no easier than building it; it was necessary to find the location of each surviving stone. The Garni temple was completely restored in 1976.

For tourists

Address

Armenia, village Garni.

How to get to Garni Temple

Highway H3 to the village of Garni. Garni can be easily reached by bus or taxi.

By the way, on the same road as the Garni Temple, the Geghard Monastery is located. Both attractions can be easily visited in one day.

If you are planning to visit Yerevan, be sure to free up a whole day in your schedule to visit probably the most amazing sights not only of Yerevan, but probably of all of Armenia: Garni Temple, Geghard Monastery and the basalt organ.

Although there are certainly many more amazing places in Armenia. But those attractions that will be discussed below are located in close proximity to the capital of Armenia. Only 15-20 km.

So: the map and description of how to get there by public transport are in my. There is a brief description of where and which minibus to take and where to get off. All main points are on the map. The map is duplicated below, and below I will describe in detail your actions if you decide to go not by taxi, but by minibus.

How to get to the Garni Temple and the basalt gorge:

We decided to hold off on paying for the Temple territory for now and go first to the basalt gorge (basalt organ), which is located right there, 1 kilometer away. If you stand facing the entrance to the Garni Temple, not reaching 30 meters from it, you can see a path down on the left. Here you go. We quickly went down the winding path. And in 30 minutes we reached one of the wonders of the world - a basalt gorge.

There are not so many of them in the whole world, and the views are truly mesmerizing. Surprisingly, there are no tourists at all, literally at all. There are very few reports about this gorge, but I highly recommend adding this point to your visit. You will not regret. On the map above, the gorge is marked.

Life hack: local taxi drivers offer to take you to the basalt gorge and back on Niva for 5,000 drams. Don't be fooled. The road is not difficult and not long; even people with poor physical fitness can handle it.

Life hack: When you climb back to the Garni Temple, at the last turn, the usual path will go in the other direction to the top. You should go there. And after 100 meters you will find yourself on the site in front of the Garni Temple completely free of charge. Save $2.50 per person.

The Garni Temple was built by the Armenian king in the first century AD. When you look at the temple, it seems that you are in Greece.

- Plagiarism?

- No, we didn’t hear.

This is how Armenians answer the question about the similarity with ancient Greek architecture). Everyone will draw their own conclusions. The views from the Temple site are simply amazing. A must visit!

Geghard Monastery is located 6 km from Garni Temple. Public transport does not go there. There are two options to get there: on foot (the pleasure is questionable) and by taxi. Taxis can be found near the entrance to the Garni Temple. Cost from 5 to 10 dollars per car.

They will take you, wait there and take you back to the Temple, and for an additional payment they can take you to Yerevan. Taxis in Armenia are not expensive, and you can always use them without harming your wallet. Read about prices in Armenia and Yerevan.

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The pagan temple of Garni is located in an idyllic landscape on a spur of a cliff and looks exactly like in a school history textbook. A row of six strict columns, nine steps, a triangular tympanum above the entrance, and inside - a cold, lonely room. If bloody rituals were once carried out here, then more than 20 people inside the temple were not present. Probably only priests were allowed inside the cramped room.

The temple in Garni (Garni is the name of the village next to which the temple is located) was built in 76. The steep cliff was occupied by the fortress of King Trdat the First, part of which was a temple that has survived to this day.



The Garni temple was the only one that survived the period of destruction of pagan temples, which came after Armenia adopted Christianity in 301. The earthquake of 1679 destroyed the temple, but in the 1960s and 70s, the fallen columns were put back in place by Armenian archaeologists.

Garni Temple stands above the cliff. The Azat mountain river meanders below, with grass-covered mountains rising on both sides of it.
Once upon a time there was a settlement around the fortress. There is a legend, based on a found cuneiform tablet, according to which King Argishti of Urartu conquered this rock in the 7th century BC. and forcibly resettled the inhabitants to the Erebuni fortress he founded, which later became Yerevan.



Mountain road to Garni Temple and Geghard Monastery.
A little further along the road from Yerevan inland, upstream the Azat River, one monastery is hidden among the mountains in a narrow gorge. As if for greater camouflage, the stone walls of the monastery merge with the surrounding rocks. I'm talking about the Geghard monastery.


Geghard is one of the oldest monasteries in Armenia. Its structures are partially carved into the rock. It is very dark inside the main temple: the only lighting is a narrow hole in the dome and candles. The main volume of the temple was attached to those vestibules that are located in the rock. The same ancient Armenian symbols are carved on the walls of the rock as on the khachkars - large painted tombstones.



In ancient times, Geghard was called Ayrivank, that is, " cave monastery". The spear was kept here, which, according to legend, was used to pierce Jesus Christ on the Cross. The sacred spear is now kept in the Etchmiadzin Monastery.



In 2000, UNESCO included the Geghard Monastery on the list of World Cultural Heritage for the exceptional preservation of the Armenian medieval monastic complex and the rich collection of khachkars.
Geghard was founded in the 4th century on the site of a sacred spring flowing from a rock. The main church was built in the 13th century. The mountain river Azat flows next to the monastery. A picturesque stone bridge spans the river.


At the entrance to the Geghard Monastery, sellers of sujuk, egg bread and various sweets stand under bright umbrellas. If you bargain, you can buy goodies here at a price two or three times lower than at the market in Yerevan.


Since Geghard is located on the same road as Garni, it is convenient to see both of these attractions in one day. Garni is easily accessible by bus. It will be hard not to find a free taxi driver on the spot who is willing to drop half the price for the pleasure of taking you to Geghard and bringing you back. On the way back, the taxi driver will persuade you to go with him to Yerevan for a small surcharge. There is no alternative to a taxi on this route; the bus does not go to Geghard. Garni and Geghard are another of those attractions in Armenia that are within a one-day tour distance from Yerevan.

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