Saturday, October 6, 2012

#926 Garni Temple, Armenia

When thinking of the heritage of the Caucasus, the Roman era is not one that immediately comes to mind. The predominant groups are the Turks and the Russians and the Iranians, but the Romans also had a part in shaping this area.

Approximately 35 kilometers out of the capital, Yerevan, this was a distant outpost of the empire, it has a lively history, being an Armenian temple before being Roman, and having the gruesome fate of being where the Armenian king Mithridates and his family were assassinated by his son in law and nephew, Rhadimistus.

With inscriptions in Greek remaining, and its location on the turn of the Azat River's bluff, it's a place worth visiting, although the building itself is a reconstruction from the 20th Century (the building collapsed in an earthquake in 1679).

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