The Garni Temple

The Garni architectural complex (3rd century BC) was once a mighty fortress which stood on a rocky,  triangular plateau rising steeply for the river Azat. The Armenian kings had been summering in Garni to escape the heat of the Ararat valley. The mighty basalt walls testify to the power of the lords guarded, but even they were powerless in the face of treachery. The victim was King Mithidritades who died at the hands of his nephew. Though he had the support of the Roman Empire, the traitor did not reign long, and was overthrown with the aid of Parthia, the rival of the Roman Empire, and the throne went to Tiridates I. The powerful empire could not ignore this affront and sent its legions into the Ararat valley. They razed Artashat, the capital of Armenia, to the ground. But soon fickle fortune changed sides and, quite unexpectedly, the troops of Tiridates I struck a devastating blow dissipating the Roman legions. But Tiridates realized that he would not survive unless he made his peace with the great Roman Empire, so he accepted Emperor Nero's offer to receive the crown of Armenia from his hands.

The voyage to Rome took nine months The royal family and Armenian nobles and dignitaries, scholars and artists, as well as a cavalcade of 3,000 horsemen, numbered among the kingís attendants. Rome prepared a splendid and hearty welcome for king Tridates but the mission almost ended in failure, because the proud Tiridates, in violation of court etiquette, refused to disarm in the presence of the Emperor. The conflict was finally smoothed over, and Tiridates returned to Armenia as crowned king, with the 150 million dinars he had received as gift from Nero, and with the artisans and builders who were to decorate his residence.

On returning home Tiridates started building a beautiful pagan temple - the Sun Temple - on the territory of Garni Fortress (1st century AD). The temple graced the hillside for 17 centuries, evoking wonder and delight with its perfect form and ethereal beauty until a major earthquake destroyed it in 1679. Almost three centuries were to pass before the prominent Russian orientalist Nikolai Marr and his colleague Yakov Smirnov discovered the ruins of the Sun Temple. In the 1930s Professor Nikolai Buniatov made a faithful reconstruction of the temple after a through study of the ruins. Restoration work was launched in 1966 and took ten years of hard work to complete.

Now let us take a look at the temple. The raise of the temple has leaves twined around lion masks which are so naturally rounded, that it is hard to believe they are carved in stone and not molded. The small square hall with the altar is surrounded by 24 columns with finely carved capitals. An extensively ornamented roof tops this "temple of coolness", which was used as the summer residence of the kings of Armenia after the country was converted to Christianity.

The ruins of the huge palace and baths, built in the 3rd century in the Roman style, are very interesting. The baths were warmed by heated air which passed trough ceramic pipes laid under the floor. In the semi circular part of the anteroom, a section of the mosaic floor has remained intact. A story from Greek mythology was taken for a design and was laid out in stones of 15 colors. There is an inscription in Greek which never fails to mystify visitors. It says: "We worked without remuneration".

Archeologists are still working on the Garni complex. They have discovered many interesting household items, fragments of antique marble statues, inscriptions in Armenian, Aramaic, and Greek.