Garni Temple

The Garni Temple is a classical colonnaded structure in the village of Garni, in central Armenia, around 30 km east of Yerevan [1]. Built in the Ionic order, it is the best-known structure and symbol of pre-Christian Armenia [1]. Considered an eastern outpost of the Greco-Roman world, it is the only largely preserved Hellenistic building in the former Soviet Union [1]. The temple is at the edge of a triangular promontory rising above the ravine of the Azat River and the Gegham mountains [1]. It is a part of the fortress of Garni, one of Armenia's oldest, that was strategically significant for the defense of the major cities in the Ararat plain [1]. The entire colonnade collapsed during a devastating earthquake on June 4, 1679, with the epicenter in the Garni Gorge [1]. The structure was rebuilt using its original stones, a technique known as anastylosis [1]. The temple is constructed of locally quarried grey to bluish basalt, assembled without the use of mortar [1].