Garni Temple

Garni Temple
Գառնի գեղարդ
Garni gexard
The temple in 2021
Garni Temple is located in Armenia
Garni Temple
Location within Armenia
General information
StatusMuseum (part of a larger protected area),
occasional Hetanist (neopagan) shrine
TypePagan temple or tomb[1][2]
Architectural styleAncient Greek/Roman
LocationGarni, Kotayk Province, Armenia
Coordinates40°06′45″N 44°43′49″E / 40.112421°N 44.730277°E / 40.112421; 44.730277
Completed1st or 2nd century AD[1]
Destroyed1679
ManagementArmenian Ministry of Culture
Height10.7 metres (35 ft)[a]
Technical details
MaterialBasalt[4]
Floor area15.7 by 11.5 m (52 by 38 ft)[3]
Design and construction
Architect(s)Alexander Sahinian (reconstruction, 1969–75)

The Garni Temple[b] 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"[7][c] and the only extant Greco-Roman temple in the former Soviet Union.[d]

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).

  1. ^ a b Khatchadourian 2008, p. 251.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Smith 2012 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b c Harutyunyan 1992, p. 57.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Arakelyan 1968 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference toponymdict was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Demirchian was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Eastmond, Antony (2017). "Tamta and the Khwarazmians: The Battle of Garni". Tamta's World: The Life and Encounters of a Medieval Noblewoman from the Middle East to Mongolia. Cambridge University Press. p. 322. ISBN 9781107167568.
  8. ^ Colledge, Malcolm A. R. (1977). Parthian Art. London: Elek. p. 69. ISBN 0236400851.


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