The Temple of Garni is the only standing Greco-Roman colonnaded temple in Armenia — and in the entire former Soviet Union — and it stands on the lip of a dramatic gorge with a drop of 300 metres to the Azat river. Built around 77 AD by King Tiridates I and dedicated to the sun god Mihr (the Armenian equivalent of the Persian Mithra), it is a peristyle temple in Hellenistic style: a rectangular cella surrounded by a colonnade of basalt columns on a high platform.
The building is small by classical standards — 14 columns along the sides and 6 across the ends — but the quality of the masonry and the gorge setting make it extraordinary. Adjacent to the temple are the remains of a royal bathhouse with a mosaic floor bearing a Greek inscription; this is one of the few surviving mosaic floors from the ancient Armenian kingdom. Entry includes both the temple and the bathhouse ruins.
Nearly 400,000 people visited in 2019, and it can be crowded in summer mornings when tour groups from Yerevan arrive. Going in the late afternoon or early morning gives you a quieter experience and better light for the gorge views.