Photo: Diego Delso (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Culture and heritage · Armenia
Garni Temple and Geghard Monastery
Half a day from Yerevan between a Roman temple above a gorge and a monastery carved into the mountain, with a village lunch and lavash from the tonir.
Garni and Geghard · Armenia
The experience
Garni Temple has stood on the edge of the Azat gorge since the first century AD, with its Ionic columns and high steps, the only Greco-Roman temple still standing in the region. Around it are the remains of a Roman bath with a mosaic floor and views over the gorge.
We drive down into the gorge to see the Symphony of Stones, a natural wall of hexagonal basalt columns rising like the pipes of a giant organ.
We then continue to Geghard Monastery, whose churches are partly carved into the mountain, with spring water flowing from the rock in one of its halls. UNESCO listed it with the Upper Azat Valley in 2000.
The visit ends with lunch at a village house in Garni, where lavash is baked in the tonir in front of you, and we order lamb, chicken or vegetable dishes for you.
Armenia
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