Yerevan

The road to Garni is like slides changing on a projector — there are no smooth passages. From the urban outskirts the view suddenly snaps to a desert landscape with autumn-colored coppices; snap — to coppices yield to fields; snap — to a mountain lacet among cliffs…

The worried voice of the driver unexpectedly brought us back from our thoughts: near Vokhchaberd Village, the road sagged almost three meters (10 feet) — landslides. “They try everything, but the soil keeps sinking. You cannot speed up here…” Passing a couple more such sagging roads, we drove into the settlement of Garni, and of course, to Garni Temple. The direction sign, which is hardly noticeable, along with the road leading to the temple, looks like an ordinary rural side street. It is therefore important to pay attention when driving by at high speeds.

It is a secure fortress on rocky peak with vertically chiseled mountain sides and peaks under a cloak of snow. A bright and boundless panorama of orchards and a multicolored field of carpets extend from the fortress to the very edge of the horizon.

From the 3rd century B.C.E. to the 4th century A.C.E., the impregnable fortress Garni served as a summer residence for many Armenian kings. We get out of the car and serenely walk around the area, examining and getting accustomed to the strange combination of Armenian landscape and Greco-Roman architecture.

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