Ancient World

Garni Temple

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. Considered an eastern outpost of the Greco-Roman world, it is the only largely preserved Hellenistic building in the former Soviet Union. It is conventionally identified as a pagan temple to the sun god Mihr (Mithra) built by King Tiridates I in the first century AD. 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 Armenian neopaganism.

Also on this shelf

See also

• ▸Antakya
• ▸Electric Loco Shed, Arakkonam
• ▸Aquae Cutiliae

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