- TURY.CLUB
- Tourist Objects
- Armenia
- Garni
- Historical and Cultural Reserve “Garni”
To the south-east of Yerevan, on the territory of the Abovyan region, over the gorge of the Azat River, the fortress of the same name is located. You can come here by car along the Yerevan-Avan-Jrvezh-Vokhchaberd-Garni road (about 30 kilometers), which steeply zigzags behind the pass through the Vokhchaberd spur of the Geghama Range down into the picturesque Garni Valley. At the pass, in the sheer cliffs hanging over the village, ancient caves gaping, now inaccessible. Cars heading to Garni usually make a short stop at a high hill on which a stone arch-tent of a monument-spring to the poet Yeghishe Charents was erected. The vast Ararat Valley with the sparkling snowy peaks of Ararat sparkling in the blue heights is clearly visible from here. The poet’s words are carved on the wall of the monument’s spring:
"Masis, as glory is the hard way. In my wanderings, I love!" There is a pedestrian path to the Garni fortress, starting from the Komsomol Park: Nor-Aresh-Shorbulag-Atzavan (about 20 kilometers). Thus, depending on the degree of preparedness and training of tourist groups, you should stop the choice on a particular route option. The first (in the presence of vehicles) will require one day, and the second - two. The fortress is located next to the village of Garni, located on a plateau among collective farm fields, orchards and vineyards. The diversified farm of the artel is mechanized on the basis of electricity received from the rural hydroelectric power station. A winding path leads through gardens to a triangular rocky cape, sharply protruding into the gorge of Azat. Already from afar, under the shady crowns of trees, the outlines of stone walls made of huge basalt blocks are visible. These are the remains of the ancient fortress of Garni. The fortress has the shape of an irregular triangle, with a sharp end facing the gorge. In the northern part of the cape, adjacent to the plateau, from under the centuries-old alluvial earth mass, excavations uncovered massive walls with 14 powerful rectangular towers. From the south and southeast, the fortress is protected by sheer 80-100-meter cliffs hanging over the river. Excavations that have been carried out here systematically since 1949 by the archaeological expedition of the Academy of Sciences of the Armenian SSR, gave interesting material. It has been established that the surroundings of the present village of Garni, due to the fruitfulness of local lands, the abundance of water and natural security, have been inhabited since ancient times. The remains of the cyclopean fortress of the Bronze Age are found in the foundation of the wall. Then follows the later masonry (of the first half of the 3rd century BC) from purely hewn basalt blocks weighing up to 6 tons, without the use of lime mortar. Heavy slabs are fastened together with iron brackets, filled with lead. The upper row of the wall consists of the same masonry and belongs to the 1st century AD. On a hill surrounded by vineyards, the remains of a pagan temple rise (1st century). The pagan temple of Garni is the only monument of the Hellenistic era in Armenia. The temple dedicated to the sun god Miter was built in the second half of the 1st century, under King Trdat I. The temple collapsed in 1679 due to an earthquake, but was rebuilt in 1970, using the fragments that were left in place and rebuilding the missing ones. The temple is built of basalt. The wall of the main building and 24 columns of the portico were erected on the podium. A wide staircase leads to the main entrance. Details of the building: basalt columns, cornices, capitals, decorated with well-preserved carvings depicting vines, pomegranate fruits and other elements of the ancient Armenian ornament. Behind the temple, the site narrows and abruptly breaks off to the river. From here, from a 100-meter height, a wonderful view of the gorge of the Azat River opens, to which pink rocky spurs of the Geghama Range come right up to the left. Near the temple, the remains of large structures were discovered. In one of them, when cleaning a small room in 1953, a mosaic floor measuring 2.9 x 2.9 meters was opened, which is a unique monument of ancient Armenian culture. The head of the archaeological expedition B. Arakelyan made the following report about this remarkable find: “The mosaic is laid out on a lime mortar from the smallest gem stones. On a light green background of the sea with great skill, with amazingly subtle transitions of tones (stones of 15 shades used), deities, mythological creatures are depicted ... ”The inscriptions made in Greek are preserved on the mosaic.
