Garni Temple
| Garni Temple | |
|---|---|
The temple in 2021 | |
| 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°06′45″N 44°43′49″E / 40.112421°N 44.730277°E |
| Completed | 1st or 2nd century AD |
| Destroyed | 1679 earthquake |
| 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 Garni Temple is a classical colonnaded structure in the village of Garni, in central Armenia, around 30 km (19 mi) east of Yerevan. Built in the Ionic order, it is the best-known structure and symbol of pre-Christian Armenia. It has been described as the "easternmost building of the Greco-Roman world" and the only largely preserved Hellenistic building in the former Soviet Union.
It is conventionally identified as a pagan temple built by King Tiridates I in the first century AD as a temple to the sun god Mihr (Mithra). A competing hypothesis sees it as a second century tomb. It collapsed in a 1679 earthquake, but much of its fragments remained on the site. Renewed interest in the 19th century led to excavations in the early and mid-20th century. It was reconstructed in 1969–75, using the anastylosis technique. It is one of the main tourist attractions in Armenia and the central shrine of Hetanism (Armenian neopaganism).
In March 2025 Armenia submitted "The Archaeological Complex of Garni and the ‘Basalt Organ’ Columnar Joint" (the "symphony of stones") to the tentative list of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites, signaling its intention for future nomination.