BarevTripGarni Temple: hours, tickets and how to get there from Yerevan
Garni Temple is a 1st-century AD classical temple on a promontory above the Azat river gorge, in the village of Garni in Kotayk Province, 28.5 km from the centre of Yerevan: about 35 minutes by road without traffic. It is the only structure in Armenia that survives from the pagan period; the building collapsed in the earthquake of 1679 and was reassembled in 1969–1975. The temple is open daily from 10:00 to 21:30, a ticket costs 1,500 AMD, and children under 12 enter free. The temple and the complex usually take 45–60 minutes to see; with a private BarevTrip driver, Garni is part of a five-hour trip together with Geghard Monastery: 30,000 AMD for a sedan and 44,000 AMD for a minivan, for the whole car.
At a glance
- Region
- Garni village, Kotayk Province
- Opening hours
- Daily 10:00–21:30 per the museum’s official website (checked 6 November 2026); the museum does not publish seasonal hours — confirm before your trip
- Tickets
- adult 1,500 AMD, reduced 750 AMD. Institution's price, paid on site; per the museum's official site on 6 November 2026. The reduced ticket is for children, students and pensioners; children under 12 free; one price for Armenian citizens and foreigners since 1 July 2019
- Time to visit
- 45–60 min
- Season
- The museum publishes no seasonal schedule: on 6 November 2026 its site says daily 10:00–21:30, while on 29 August 2026 the same page said Tuesday–Sunday; in winter and on Mondays call the museum, +374 10 545570. In winter the path into the gorge can be icy
- Restrictions
- Nine steps of 30 cm lead up to the temple; whether visitors may enter the cella and how accessible the site is for a wheelchair are not described officially
- Official website
- garni.mus.am
checked November 6, 2026
Contents
What it is and where it stands
The temple stands on the southern edge of the ancient Garni fortress. That is how the state list of monuments of Kotayk Province describes it (entry 6.21/4.2, 1st century, monument of republican significance). The same list dates the fortress from the 3rd millennium BC to the 17th century. The grounds are the Garni Historical-Cultural Museum-Reserve, a branch of the state Service for the Protection of Historical Environment.
Value
- Type
- classical temple with a colonnade all round (peripteral)
- Dating
- traditionally 1st century AD; the year 77 is most often named; one theory says it is a 2nd-century tomb
- Province, settlement
- Kotayk Province, Garni village; about 1,400 m above sea level
- From central Yerevan
- 28.5 km, about 35 minutes without traffic
- Protection status
- monument of republican significance; on the UNESCO tentative list since 2025
- Official site
- garni.mus.am (RU, EN, AM)
Garni is on UNESCO’s tentative list: it is a nomination, and World Heritage status has not yet been granted. The nearby World Heritage Site is Geghard Monastery (no. 960, since 2000), ten minutes away by car. In 2011 the museum-reserve received the UNESCO–Greece Melina Mercouri International Prize for the safeguarding and management of cultural landscapes.
History by date
Event
- 1st century
- Tacitus mentions the fortress of Gorneas in the Annals (book XII, 45): Rhadamistus drove Mithridates into it, and the fortress was “secure by position and garrison”
- 77
- Greek inscription of King Tiridates I at the fortress entrance (found in 1945 by Martiros Saryan); the traditional date of the temple’s construction
- 3rd century
- a bath with a mosaic floor and a palace north-west of the temple
- 7th century
- the Church of St Sion, adjoining the temple on the west
- 1679
- earthquake; the colonnade collapsed, leaving the podium, the lower part of the cella and the column bases
- 1969–1975
- the temple reassembled by anastylosis, architect Alexander Sahinian
- 2025
- inclusion in the UNESCO tentative list together with the basalt columns of the gorge
The year 77 is the traditional dating: the monuments register gives only the 1st century. The dedication to the sun god Mihr is the generally accepted version.
Since 1990 the temple has been the main sanctuary of Armenian neo-paganism: ceremonies are held on 21 March and at Vardavar. A rite in the temple’s cella is possible on other days too.
What to see on site and nearby
What it is
- Temple
- 24 Ionic columns 6.54 m high (6 on each front, 8 on each side), grey basalt; a staircase of 9 steps of 30 cm, with pedestals carved with atlantes on either side
- Bath
- 3rd century, a mosaic floor of stones in 15 colours with the inscription “having received nothing, we laboured”
- Church of St Sion
- ruins of a centrally planned 7th-century church
- Chapel and khachkars
- a 9th-century chapel, khachkars of the 10th–11th centuries, the gravestone of Catholicos Mashtots of 897; an exhibition of 9th–13th-century khachkars and a 14th–15th-century gravestone are at the fortress entrance
- Vishapakar
- a stele of the 2nd millennium BC with an Urartian inscription of the 8th century BC
- Symphony of Stones gorge
- basalt columns above the Azat river
Where, relative to the temple
- Temple
- —
- Bath
- about 60 m north-west
- Church of St Sion
- adjoins on the west
- Chapel and khachkars
- west of the church; at the entrance
- Vishapakar
- near the palace
- Symphony of Stones gorge
- about 0.9 km in a straight line; 1.85 km by road to the gorge entrance
According to the museum, the 24 columns symbolise the 24 hours of the day.
Hours and tickets
The amounts are the institution’s prices, paid on site, not BarevTrip prices.
Value
- Days and hours
- daily, 10:00–21:30
- Adult ticket
- 1,500 AMD; one price for Armenian citizens and foreigners since 1 July 2019
- Reduced ticket
- 750 AMD: children’s, student and pensioner
- Children under 12
- free
- Museum tour
- 3,000 AMD in Armenian, 5,000 AMD in foreign languages; book in advance; a museum service, not BarevTrip
- Payment at the ticket office
- cash in drams is safer
- Museum phones
- +374 10 545570, +374 10 587425
What this means for the trip: with a 09:00 pickup the car reaches Garni at about opening time. On holidays and ceremony days the hours may differ. Entrance tickets are not included in the price of the trip: they are bought on site, separately.
How to get there from Yerevan and how long it takes
Distance
- Republic Square → parking at the Garni entrance
- 28.5 km
- Parking → entrance → temple
- about 20 m to the entrance, then about 220 m in a straight line
- Garni → Geghard Monastery
- 10.2 km
- Garni → east entrance of the Symphony of Stones gorge
- 1.85 km
Time without traffic
- Republic Square → parking at the Garni entrance
- about 35 minutes
- Parking → entrance → temple
- about 5 minutes on foot — a map estimate
- Garni → Geghard Monastery
- about 10 minutes
- Garni → east entrance of the Symphony of Stones gorge
- about 4 minutes
From your hotel the time will differ; in summer at weekends and at rush hour it takes longer. There is a free toilet at the entrance, and restaurants.
With a BarevTrip driver: pickup at your hotel or address at the time you choose, 09:00 by default; the order and minutes of the stops are on the Garni Temple & Geghard Monastery page (5 hours in all), and what the driver does and how the trip differs from going on your own is in the answer to a tourists’ question.
Time on site: 45–60 minutes for the temple, the bath, the church and the viewpoints, which is also what the catalog allows. The walk from the temple down to the Symphony of Stones columns takes 20–40 minutes down and 30–40 minutes back up a sloping path; you need comfortable shoes. Entry to the gorge is paid.
When to go
What to bear in mind by season:
What to bear in mind
- November – January
- short daylight: on 6 November sunrise 07:35, sunset 17:53; on 21 December 08:19 and 17:38
- Winter
- the path into the gorge may be icy — wear shoes with a tread
- 21 March, Vardavar
- neo-pagan ceremonies; a rite in the cella is possible on other days too
- April – June, September – October
- the most comfortable time for walking around the temple and the gorge
- July – August
- visitor peak 10:00–15:00, the car park may fill up in the afternoon; better to arrive before 10:00–11:00
The practical conclusion: a 09:00 pickup works in winter and in summer alike. You are at the temple at opening, in summer before the heat and the queues, in winter with spare daylight for Geghard. In summer it is better to go down into the gorge in the morning or towards evening: there is little shade in it at midday, and the climb back takes longer than the descent. For winter trips from Yerevan in general, see the answer to the question “Where can you go from Yerevan on a winter day trip by car?”.
What to combine in one day
In the catalog, Garni comes together with Geghard: it is 10 minutes by car from Garni, and the gorge is 4 minutes away. Three options from the catalog, price for the whole car:
Stops
- Garni Temple & Geghard Monastery
- Charents Arch → Garni Temple → Symphony of Stones gorge → Geghard Monastery
- Charents Arch, Azat Reservoir, Garni Temple, Symphony of Stones, and Geghard Monastery
- the same plus the Azat Reservoir
- Khor Virap, Azat, Garni & Geghard
- Khor Virap in the morning, then Azat, Garni and Geghard, Charents Arch on the way back; no gorge
Hours, km
Sedan / minivan
- Garni Temple & Geghard Monastery
- 30,000 / 44,000 AMD
- Charents Arch, Azat Reservoir, Garni Temple, Symphony of Stones, and Geghard Monastery
- 35,000 / 47,000 AMD
- Khor Virap, Azat, Garni & Geghard
- 42,000 / 56,000 AMD
There are two more: Garni, Geghard & Lake Sevan, 9 hours and 200 km, with Sevanavank Monastery and Tsaghkadzor, and Garni, Geghard & Lavash Baking, 6 hours and 90 km, without the gorge; the lavash workshop is paid on site and is not included in the price of the car. The prices of both are on the trip pages.
Entry to Geghard is free; it is best to cover shoulders and knees. On the tours with Khor Virap, Garni falls in the middle of the day, but you get both Ararat and the Azat gorge in one day. The choice between Garni and Khor Virap for one short outing is in the article Garni or Khor Virap: what to choose with one day in Yerevan; other combinations are in the answer on how to combine Garni, Geghard and Khor Virap in a day. A day outside the catalog is put together through a custom route; all routes are in the tour catalog, and the order of booking and payment is on the how it works page.
By tradition
The museum-reserve gives two versions of why the temple survived the destruction of pagan sanctuaries after the adoption of Christianity in the early 4th century. In the first, Khosrovidukht, the sister of King Tiridates III, asked her brother not to destroy a temple that meant a great deal to her. In the second, the building was spared as a work of art.
Some researchers see the building not as a temple but as a royal summer residence or mausoleum; the museum and the monuments register call it a temple.
What to check on site
- Hours. In winter and on Mondays it is best to call the museum the day before: +374 10 545570 or +374 10 587425.
- Ticket office. Tickets are bought on site; cash in drams is safer.
- Parking. The driver will tell you where he waits on the day of the trip.
- The gorge. Entry to the Symphony of Stones gorge is paid; allow 50–80 minutes for the descent and the climb back, and wear comfortable shoes.
- Cella, pushchairs, photography. Ask at the ticket office about entering the cella, getting around with a pushchair, and the rules for amateur photography and drones.
Photos
Questions about this trip
Can I visit Garni on a Monday?
Will the driver tell us about the temple’s history?
Is the trip suitable for children?
Do I need cash?
What if the weather turns bad and we change our minds?
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Routes from this article
Sources and date of check
- Garni Historical-Cultural Museum-Reserve — official site (RU, EN, AM) · checked November 6, 2026 · sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9
- The same museum page (EN), Wayback Machine snapshot of 2026-08-29 · checked November 6, 2026 · section 4
- Government of Armenia decree No. 1793-Ն of 24.12.2003, state list of monuments of Kotayk Province, entries 6.21/4–4.11 · checked November 6, 2026 · sections 1, 2, 3
- Service for the Protection of Historical Environment — notice on the single ticket price from 01.07.2019 (Wayback snapshot of 2025-12-14) · checked November 6, 2026 · section 4
- UNESCO — Melina Mercouri International Prize for Cultural Landscapes, 2011 · checked November 6, 2026 · sections 1, 2
- Tacitus, Annals, book XII, 45 (Latin text, The Latin Library) · checked November 6, 2026 · section 2
- OpenStreetMap — temple (way 108255791), main entrance (node 4769635052), parking (way 321352168), toilet (node 4393224873) · checked November 6, 2026 · sections 3, 5
- OpenStreetMap — main entrance of the Garni fortress · checked November 6, 2026 · At a glance