Temple of Garni

The precise construction date of the temple is unknown and is subject to debate. The dominant view is that it was built in 77 AD, during the reign of king Tiridates I of Armenia.[10] The date is calculated based on a Greek inscription,[lower-alpha 3] discovered by Martiros Saryan, a prominent artist, in July 1945 at the Garni cemetery, recently brought from a nearby water mill.[11][12] It names Tiridates the Sun (Helios Tiridates) as the founder of the temple.[5][13] The following includes an image of the inscription as it stands near the temple today, its textual reconstruction by Ashot G. Abrahamian,[14] an English translation by James R. Russell,[15] an alternative reading and translation by Poghos Ananian, as cited by Vrej Nersessian.[16]

Image	Greek text[14]	Translation by Russell[17]	Alternative translation[16]
	Ἣλιος Τιριδάτης [ὁ μέγας] μεγάλης Ἀρμενίας ἄνα[κτος] ὡς δεσπότης. Αἴκτισε ναΐ[διον] βασιλίσ[σ]α τὸν ἀνίκητον κασ[ιν ἐνι] αιτούς. Αι. Τῆς βασιλεί[ας αὐτου] με[γαλείας]. Ὑπὸ ἐξουσίᾳ στεγάν[ου] λίτουργος τῷ μεγάλῳ σπ[ῆι εὔχεσθε] μετὰ ματήμι καὶ εὐχαρ[ιστίαν εὐχήν] τοῦ μαρτυρίου.	The Sun Tiridatēs of Greater Armenia, lord as despot, built a temple for the queen; the invincible... in the eleventh year of his reign. ...Under the protection of the... may the priest to the great cave (?) in the vain (?) of the witness and thanks.	The Sun God Tiridates, uncontested king of Great Armenia built the temple and the impregnable fortress in the eleventh year of his reign when Mennieay was hazarapet [chiliarch] and Amateay was sparapet [commander].

Most scholars now attribute the inscription to Tiridates I. Considering that the inscription says the temple was built in the eleventh year of reign of Tiridates I, the temple is believed to have been completed in 77 AD.[18][lower-alpha 4] The date is primarily linked to Tiridates I's visit to Rome in 66 AD, where he was crowned by Roman emperor Nero.[lower-alpha 5] To rebuild the city of Artaxata, destroyed by the Roman general Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo, Nero gave Tiridates 50 million drachmas and provided him with Roman craftsmen. Upon his return to Armenia Tiridates began a major project of reconstruction, which included rebuilding the fortified city of Garni. It is during this period that the temple is thought to have been built.[23]

The temple is commonly attributed to Mihr,[7][24][25] the sun god in the Zoroastrian-influenced Armenian mythology and the equivalent of Mithra. Tiridates, like other Armenian monarchs, considered Mihr their patron. Some scholars have argued that, given the historical context during which the temple was built, i.e. after returning from Rome as king, it would seem natural that Tiridates dedicated the temple to his patron god.[23] Furthermore, white marble sculptures of bull hooves have been discovered some 20 metres (66 ft) from the temple which could possibly be the remains of a sculpture of the god Mihr, who was often portrayed in a fight with a bull.[26]

Arshak Fetvadjian described the temple as an "edifice of Roman style for the pantheistic idol cult fashionable in the days of the Arshakists."[27] In 1950 Kamilla Trever reported that according to a different interpretation of the extant literature and the evidence provided by coinage, the erection of the temple started in 115 AD. The pretext for its construction would have been the declaration of Armenia as a Roman province[18] and the temple would have housed the imperial effigy of Trajan.[28]

An alternative theory proposed by Richard D. Wilkinson in 1982 suggests that the building is a tomb, probably constructed circa 175 AD. This theory is based on a comparison to Graeco-Roman buildings of western Asia Minor (e.g. Nereid Monument, Belevi Mausoleum, Mausoleum at Halicarnassus),[7] the discovery of nearby graves that date to about that time, and the discovery of a few marble pieces of the Asiatic sarcophagus style. Wilkinson furthermore states that there is no direct evidence linking the structure to Mithras or Mihr, and that the Greek inscription attributed to Tiridates I probably refers to a former fortress at the Garni site and not to the colonnaded structure now called the Temple of Garni. He also notes that it is unlikely that a pagan temple would survive destruction during Armenia's 4th-century conversion to Christianity when all other such temples were destroyed. Wilkinson offers the suggestion that the structure may be a tomb erected in honor of one of the Romanized kings of Armenia of the late 2nd century.[29][10]

James R. Russell finds the view of the structure being a temple of Mihr baseless. He is also skeptical that the Greek inscription refers to the temple.[30]

Christina Maranci calls it an Ionic structure with an "unclear function." She writes that "while often identified as temple, it may have been a funerary monument, perhaps serving as a royal tomb." She also notes that its entablature is similar to that of the temple of Antonius Pius at Sagalassos in western Asia Minor and to the columns of Attalia. She concludes that imperial Roman workmen may have been involved in its construction.[31]

In the early fourth century,[lower-alpha 6] when Armenian King Tiridates III adopted Christianity as a state religion, virtually all known pagan places of worship were destroyed.[37] The Temple of Garni is the only pagan,[lower-alpha 7] Hellenistic,[24][42] and Greco-Roman[43] structure to have survived the widespread destruction. It remains unknown why the temple was exempted from destruction, but philosopher Grigor Tananyan argues that its status as a "masterpiece of art" possibly saved it from destruction. He suggests that the temple was perceived to be a "quintessence of an entire culture."[44] Robert H. Hewsen suggested that the reason why it was not destroyed is because it was not a temple, but a tomb of a Roman-appointed king of Armenia. He also noted that in the seventh century a church was built immediately next to it and not in its place.[6]

An idealized image of Khosrovidukht from the early 20th century.

According to Movses Khorenatsi a "cooling-off house" (summer house) was built within the fortress of Garni for Khosrovidukht, the sister of Tiridates III.[5][41] As its purpose changed the temple underwent some changes. The sacrificial altars in the outside of the temple and the cult statue in the cella were removed. The opening in the roof for skylight was closed. The stone structures for removal of water from the roof were also removed, while the entrance of the temple was transformed and adjusted for residence.[44]

There is a series of Arabic graffiti on the walls of the temple, dated 9th-10th centuries.[10] There is also an Armenian inscription on the entrance wall of the temple. Dated 1291, it was left by princess Khoshak of Garni, the granddaughter of Ivane Zakarian (commander of Georgian-Armenian forces earlier in the 13th century) and Khoshak's son, Amir Zakare. It tells about the release of the population of Garni from taxes in forms of wine, goats, and sheep.[45] Simeon of Aparan, a poet and educator, made the last written record about the temple before its collapse in his 1593 poem titled "Lamentation on the throne of Trdat" («Ողբանք ի վերայ թախթին Տրդատայ թագաւորին»).[46][47]

The entire colonnade of the temple collapsed in a devastating June 4,[48] 1679 earthquake,[49] the epicenter of which was, according to many scholars,[50] located in the gorge of Garni.[51] Most of the original building blocks remained scattered at the site, allowing the building to be reconstructed. As much as 80% of the original masonry and ornamental friezes were in the site by the late 1960s.[52]

European travellers mentioned the temple in their works as early as the 17th century.[1] Jean Chardin (1673, who visited Armenia before the earthquake) and James Morier (1810s)[53] both incorrectly described it through local informants since they never actually visited the site.[7] Upon Robert Ker Porter's visit the fortress was called "Tackt-i-Tiridate" ("throne of Tiridates" in Persian) by the locals. Ker Porter described what he saw as follows: "a confused pile beautiful fragments; columns, architraves, capitals, friezes, all mingled together in broken disorder."[7][54] Another European to visit and document the ruins of the temple was DuBois de Montpereux, who referred to the fortress as "Takh Terdat".[7] In his 1839 book he proposed a reconstruction plan.[7]

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  Robert Ker Porter's drawing of the Garni Gorge (published in 1821).[55] Ruins of the temple can be seen on the promontory on the left.[7]
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  Porter's drawing the temple's ruins[56]
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  The ruins of the temple in the early 20th century (published in 1918)[57][58]
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  Toros Toramanian pictured sitting on part of the pediment[59]

A fountain dedicated to the reconstruction by Sahinian (1978)

The archaeologist Aleksey Uvarov proposed putting de Montpereux's plan into action at the fifth All-Russian Archaeological Congress in 1880. He proposed that the temple's stones be moved to Tiflis (in Georgia) and be reconstructed there according to de Montpereux's plan.[60] Lori Khatchadourian suggests that the plan "could be read as an attempt at co-opting Armenia's Roman past to the glory of Russia through the relocation of its most iconic monument to the nearest administrative center."[60] The governor of Erivan, citing technical difficulties, did not implement the plan.[61]

In the subsequent decades scholars such as Nikoghayos Buniatian, Babken Arakelyan, and Nikolay Tokarsky studied the temple.[44] In 1909–11, during an excavation led by Nicholas Marr, the temple ruins were uncovered. Buniatian sought to reconstruct the temple in the 1930s.[61]

In 1949 the Armenian Academy of Sciences began major excavations of the Garni fortress site led by Babken Arakelyan. Architectural historian Alexander Sahinian focused on the temple itself. It was not until almost twenty years later, on December 10, 1968, that the Soviet Armenian government approved the reconstruction plan of the temple. A group led by Sahinian began reconstruction works in January 1969. It was completed by 1975,[62] almost 300 years after it was destroyed in an earthquake.[24][63] The temple was almost entirely rebuilt using its original stones, except the missing pieces which were filled with blank stones intended to be easily recognisable.[61] In 1978 a monument dedicated to Sahinian was erected not far from the temple.[63]

The temple follows the style of classical Ancient Greek architecture which began developing in the seventh century BC.[64] Scholars have variously described the structure as Greek, Roman or Greco-Roman and have usually linked it to Hellenistic art, often pointing out its distinct features and local Armenian influence.[65] Some scholars have emphasized the Armenian influence on its architecture, calling it "Armenian-Hellenic" (Sahinian), while others have completely dismissed this view, calling it a "foreign structure on Armenian soil".[66] Toros Toramanian, for instance, stressed the singularity of the temple as a Roman-style building on the Armenian Highlands and "remarked that the Garni construction essentially had no influence on contemporary or subsequent Armenian architecture."[67] Sahinian, on the other hand, called it a "product of the architectural-constructional art of the Hellenistic period" that entirely resembles the 9th century BC Urartian Musasir temple.[68]

The temple is a peripteros built on an elevated podium.[69][61] It is constructed of grey basalt quarried locally[69][7] and without the use of mortar.[4][31] The blocks are instead bound together by iron and bronze clamps.[31] The temple is composed of a portico (pronaos) and a cella (naos). The temple is supported by a total of twenty-four 6.54-metre (21.5 ft) high columns of the Ionic order: six in the front and back and eight on the sides (the corner columns are listed twice).[69][64] Based on a comparative analysis Sahinian proposed that the columns of the temple of Garni have their origins in Asia Minor.[70]

The triangular pediment depicts sculptures of plants and geometrical figures.[71] The staircase has nine[61] unusually high steps—30 centimetres (12 in) high, about twice as high as the average height of stairs.[71] Tananyan suggests that the unusually high stairs compel a person ascending the staircase to feel humbled and make physical effort to reach the altar.[71] On the both sides of the staircase there are roughly square pedestals. Atlas, the Greek mythological Titan who held up the earth, is sculpted on both pedestals in a way seemingly trying to hold the entire temple on its shoulders. It is assumed that, originally, pedestals held up altars (sacrificial tables).[71]

The exterior of the temple is richly decorated. The frieze depicts a continuous line of acanthus. Furthermore, there are ornaments on the capital, architrave, and soffit. The stones in the front cornice have projecting sculptures of lion heads.[26] A fragment of the architrave bearing a lion head was removed by Captain J Buchan Telfer in the late nineteenth century and bequeathed by him to the British Museum in 1907.[72]

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  Fragment of frieze
• 
• 

The cella

The cella of the temple is 7.132 metres (23.40 ft) high, 7.98 metres (26.2 ft) long, and 5.05 metres (16.6 ft) wide.[71] Up to 20 people can fit inside the cella.[73] Due to the relatively small size of the cella, it has been proposed that a statue once stood inside and the ceremonies were held in the outside.[26] The cella is lit from two sources: the disproportionately large entrance of 2.29 by 4.68 metres (7 ft 6 in by 15 ft 4 in) and the opening in the roof of 1.74 by 1.26 metres (5.7 by 4.1 ft).[74]

Vardavar, a popular summer festival of pre-Christian (pagan) origins, being celebrated near the temple in 2014

The temple is the most significant structure in Armenia from the pre-Christian period and has become a symbol of this era.[43][75] Maranci describes it as one of the most celebrated monuments of ancient Armenia.[31] Furthermore, it is the sole standing Greco-Roman colonnaded building in Armenia and the former Soviet Union.[lower-alpha 8] It became a tourist destination even before its reconstruction in the 1970s.[80] Today, it is, along with the nearby medieval monastery of Geghard, one of the main tourist attraction sites in Armenia.[81][82] Most people visiting Garni also visit Geghard.[83] The two sites are often collectively known as Garni-Geghard (Գառնի-Գեղարդ).[84] In 2013 some 200,000 people visited the temple.[85]

In recent years many notable individuals have visited the temple, such as Presidents of Cyprus (Demetris Christofias),[86] Austria (Heinz Fischer),[87] Greece (Karolos Papoulias),[88] Spanish opera singer Montserrat Caballé,[89] American TV personalities Khloé and Kim Kardashian,[90] and American comedian Conan O'Brien.[91] O'Brien, who visited the temple in October 2015 with his Armenian assistant Sona Movsesian, filmed an episode in Armenia which included dancing at the temple of Garni.[92] The episode aired on his late-night talk show on November 17, 2015 and scored 1.3 million viewers.[93][94]

The temple and the fortress are part of the Garni Historical and Cultural Museum Reserve (Armenian: «Գառնի» պատմա-մշակութային արգելոց-թանգարան), which occupies 3.5 hectares (8.6 acres) and is supervised by the Service for the Protection of Historical Environment and Cultural Museum Reservations, an agency attached to the Ministry of Culture of Armenia.[85] The list of intangible historical and cultural monuments approved by the government of Armenia includes 11 items within the area.[9]

A neopagan ritual in front of the temple

In a 2006 survey the state of conservation of Garni was rated by over three-quarters of the visitors as "good" or "very good".[83] In 2011 UNESCO awarded the Museum-Reservation of Garni the Melina Mercouri International Prize for the Safeguarding and Management of Cultural Landscapes for "measures taken to preserve its cultural vestiges, and the emphasis placed on efforts to interpret and open the site for national and international visitors."[95]

On September 25, 2014 Maksim Nikitenko, a Russian tourist in his early 20s, defaced the temple[96] by spray painting "В мире идол ничто" (literally translating to "In the world, idol is nothing").[97][98] The painting was cleaned days later.[99] The Armenian state service for protection of historical and cultural reserves filed a civil lawsuit against Nikitenko in February 2015, in which the agency requested 839,390 AMD (~$1,760) to recover the damage resulting from vandalism.[100] In an April 2015 decision the Kotayk Province court ruled to take Nikitenko into custody for 2 months and fine him the requested amount.[101]

Since 1990,[102] the temple has been the central shrine[103][104] of the small number of followers of Armenian neopaganism (close to Zoroastrianism) who hold annual ceremonies at the temple,[105] especially on March 21—the pagan New Year.[102][106] On that day, which coincides with Nowruz, the Iranian New Year, Armenian neopagans celebrate the birthday of the god of fire, Vahagn.[107] Celebrations by neopagans are also held during the summer festival of Vardavar, which has pre-Christian (pagan) origins.[108][109]

The square in front of the temple is a site of occasional concerts. In 1985 the Soviet televised music festival Pesnya goda ("Song of the Year") was recorded at the temple.[110]

Obverse side of 5000-dram banknote (1995–2005).[111]

In 1985 some scenes of Polish movie Travels of Mr. Kleks were shot at the Garni temple.[112]

The torch of the first Pan-Armenian Games was lit near the temple on August 28, 1999.[113]

Another concert was held near the temple on July 2, 2004 by the National Chamber Orchestra of Armenia, conducted by Aram Gharabekian.[114] The orchestra played the works of Aram Khachaturian, Komitas, Edvard Mirzoyan, Strauss, Mozart, and other composers.[115]

On May 6, 2019 Acid Pauli performed a live concert of electronic music in front of the temple.[116]

On July 14, 2019 the National Chamber Orchestra of Armenia performed a concert in front of the temple dedicated to the 150th anniversaries of Komitas and Hovhannes Tumanyan.[117]

The temple was depicted on the obverse side of 5000-dram banknote, which was in use from 1995 to 2005.[111]