Skip to main content
Geotour

Garni Temple

Armenia · History

Getting there
About 30 km (40 min) east of Yerevan on a paved road via Goght
Best time
April–October
Recommended stay
2–3 hours

About Garni Temple

Garni, about 30 km east of Yerevan in Armenia, has the only standing Greco-Roman colonnaded temple in the former Soviet Union. The 1st-century temple sits on a triangular promontory above the Azat gorge, inside the walls of an old royal fortress. You walk around the colonnade, see the remains of a Roman-era bathhouse with a floor mosaic, then drive or walk down to the Symphony of Stones, a wall of hexagonal basalt columns in the gorge. It pairs naturally with Geghard Monastery, about 10 km further up the valley.

Tours Including Garni Temple

See the tour

Must-See Attractions

  • Temple of Garni

    The reconstructed Ionic colonnade on a high podium, with carved friezes; the bare stones show where the reconstruction filled gaps.

  • Royal bathhouse

    Ruins of a 3rd-century bathhouse beside the temple, with a Greek-inscribed sea-themed floor mosaic.

  • Symphony of Stones

    Columns of basalt rising from the Azat gorge below the village, reached by a steep road or a 30-minute walk down.

  • Gorge viewpoint

    The edge of the promontory looks straight down onto the columns and the river.

Nearby

  • Geghard Monastery

    The partly rock-cut 13th-century monastery, about 10 km up the valley (15 min).

  • Yerevan

    The Armenian capital, about 30 km west (40 min).

  • Charents Arch

    A roadside viewpoint towards Mount Ararat on the Yerevan–Garni road, about 10 km before Garni.

Location

View on map

Good to know

Getting there

About 30 km (40 min) east of Yerevan on a paved road via Goght; from Tbilisi, Yerevan is a 5–6 h drive via the Sadakhlo–Bagratashen border.

Best time

April–October

Best time

May–June and September–October bring mild weather for the gorge walk; midsummer is hot, and in winter the site is open but the path down to the Symphony of Stones can be icy.

Recommended stay

2–3 hours

Border and documents

Garni is in Armenia, so carry your passport and check whether your nationality needs a visa; Armenian is the main language, with Russian widely spoken.

Money

Armenian dram (AMD); the ticket is about 1,500 AMD for foreign visitors, so carry some cash.

Time needed

1 hour at the temple, plus 45–60 minutes for the Symphony of Stones.

Heads-up

The temple is busy with tour groups from late morning; early or late in the day is quieter.

History & culture

Culture

Families in Garni village bake lavash, the thin Armenian flatbread, in underground tonir ovens, and several open their kitchens to visitors; lavash-making is on UNESCO's list of Intangible Cultural Heritage. The temple is also used for concerts and by a small neopagan community for rituals on the old festival days.

History

Garni was a summer residence and fortress of the Armenian Arsacid kings. The temple is usually dated to the 1st century AD, often linked to King Tiridates I, and was probably dedicated to the sun god Mihr. It survived the Christianisation of Armenia, perhaps as a royal summer house, but collapsed in the earthquake of 1679. Its original stones lay on the site until 1969–1975, when architects reassembled the temple, filling missing pieces with plain new stone so the old and new parts can be told apart.

Local Cuisine

Lavash baked in the tonir, often with a home-cooked lunch of khorovats (grilled meat), greens and cheese, at family houses in Garni village.

Accommodation

A handful of guesthouses and small B&Bs in Garni village; most travellers visit on a half-day trip from Yerevan.

Nearby destinations

This page in other languages