Armenian Information
Garni pagan temple
Garni pagan temple
.This pagan temple was built in 1st. c. AC and was devoted to one of the
Armenian Pagan Gods - Mitra. After Armenia converted to Christianity in
the 4th c., the rulers of the country used the temple as their summer residence.
King Khosrov stayed there often as the area was his favourite hunting ground.
Garni was destroyed when the Arabs conquered Armenia but was rebuilt in
the beginning of the 10th c. Its final destruction came in 1638 during the
Turkish invasion. A violent earthquake buried what remained from it in 1679.
The complete restoration of the temple began in 1970 and was over in 1978.
The temple consists of dwellings and bath quarters built in the 3rd century
in the Roman style. The fantastic landscape of Garni canyon shakes the human
imagination
