UNDER CONSTRUCTION

   The   village   of   Garni  (until  1936 Bash-Gyarni) has been inhabited almost continuously since the 3rd millennium BC, with intermittent plunderings (e.g., Timur Lenk in 1386), earthquakes, et cetera. The current population derives from the Persian    district    of    Maku,    in    an

   Back out of  the  gorge  on  the  main road from Garni, Goght village, between Garni and Geghard, is known from 13^th c. manuscripts as Goghot; turnoff to right is 4.9 km past the Garni W.W. II monument. Past the main square, straight ahead down the dirt road,   is     a      ruined    little    basilica

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

exchange of populations in 1829-30 following the Russo-Persian treaty of Turkmanchay. Medieval remains in the village include a ruined 4^th c. single-aisle church (SE part of village), the 11^th c. Astvatsatsin church (in the center), and the 12^th c. “Little” or “Mashtots Hayrapet”church. There are supposedly shrines of Tukh Manuk (NE), S. Sargis (NW on hill-top), and Queen Katranide (S of the fortress). The Hellenistic to late Roman (3^rd-c BC- 4th c. AD) fortress of Garni, on a basalt promontory jutting out into the  Azat/Garni river gorge, enjoys spectacular views that change with the seasons. The site is a relic of one of the relatively brief periods in Armenia’s history when, poised between the Mediterranean world and the  Middle East, its rulers opted culturally as well as politically for the former. The temple at the tip of the promontory is generally thought to have been built around 77 AD under King Tiridates I. The fourlobed 7^th-9^th c church foundation abutting the temple is likewise heavily restored. The 4th c. bath building preserves part of a mosaic floor, decorated with oddly named Greco-Roman sea goddesses and an enigmatic Greek inscription, “Taking nothing we labored”.

church of  the 17^th or 18^th (?) century, with good khachkars built into the walls. Havuts Tar Vank, 11-13^th c., is an impressive walled monastery, half ruined, on a promontory across the Garni river gorge from Goght. It can be reached in a bit less than an hour on foot, either from Goght or from the dirt road at the bottom of the gorge, accessible by car from Garni.