Garni

Garni (Armenian Գառնի, Russian Гарни ) is an Armenian town in the province of Kotayk. It lies about 30 km east of Yerevan in the valley of the Azat River above the basalt gorge of Awan. It has 7,441 inhabitants ( 2009).

Garni was for several centuries the summer residence of Armenian kings - the ruins of the fortress Garni still exist today. Within the fort premises let Tiridates I. in the 1st century Hellenistic Mithras build a temple with 24 Ionic columns, known as the temple of Garni. It was destroyed in an earthquake in 1679 and rebuilt with original material since 1966. In recent excavations a Roman bathhouse was discovered well-preserved mosaic floor. Also worth seeing is the ancient church of blue- black basalt. Directly at Garni is also the Khosrov Reserve, are protected in the rare animal species such as the Caucasian leopard and the wild goat.

Garni is a popular tourist destination for day trips from Yerevan. Nearby is the Geghard monastery from the 12th century, is carved in large part from the massive rock.

In the vicinity of Garni wine, fruit and walnuts are grown.