{"id":5465,"date":"2013-07-17T13:29:45","date_gmt":"2013-07-17T17:29:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/?p=5465"},"modified":"2013-08-05T19:17:19","modified_gmt":"2013-08-05T23:17:19","slug":"garni-temple-and-geghard-monastery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/?p=5465","title":{"rendered":"Garni Temple and Geghard Monastery"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wednesday, July 17, 2013<\/span><\/p>\n

We had booked a tour today with Hyur Service, a local tourist agency, and arranged to take a group tour to visit Garni Temple and Geghard Monastery today. \u00a0Armenia is a very small country so it is feasible to use Yerevan as a base and take day trips out of the city to visit several important historical sights.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The Temple at Garni<\/p>\n

The Temple was part of a fortress built in the first Century A.D. by an Armenian king and dedicated to a sun god. \u00a0The original complex included a palace, bathhouse, servants’ and guards’ residences, a church, and a meeting hall. \u00a0The temple is situated on a triangular piece of land with two sides along the steep Garni Gorge. \u00a0A thick wall had been built on the third side for to protect the fortress from invasions.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Garni Temple<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Tilling the Soil<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The Deep Garni Gorge<\/p>\n

There are remains of an original bathhouse which been well preserved, although the roof is new. \u00a0This was the royal bathhouse for the king.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The Roman Bath<\/p>\n

The interior of the bath has been restored to demonstrate how it was used. \u00a0The inscription on the floor was written in Greek and was translated as, “Work and gain nothing.” \u00a0The guide explained that historians believe that the inscription suggests that the craftsmen were not adequately paid for their services.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Interior \u00a0Mosaic<\/p>\n

The Temple at Garni has been recognized by UNESCO for the preservation efforts by the Armenian government.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Tourists at the Temple<\/p>\n

After the group’s explorations at Garni, we continued a short distance to Gerghard Monastery and Church. \u00a0UNESCO recognized this complex on its list of World Heritage sites.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Snacks on the Way to the Monastery<\/p>\n

The surviving buildings of Geghard date from the 13th Century. \u00a0The Monastery was literally built into the side of a mountain and more than half of the interior floor space is located within the mountain. \u00a0The complex is also called “Ayrivank”, which means Monastery of the Cave.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The Inner Courtyard of Gerghard Monastery<\/p>\n

The common name Gerghard refers to the monastery’s status as the original repository of one of the spears that was used to pierce the side of Jesus during the crucifixion. \u00a0Gerghard is the Armenian word for spear. \u00a0The legendary spear is now housed in the museum at Echmiadzin Cathedral.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Interior of the Main Room<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Woman Being Baptized<\/p>\n

The tour guide explained that since Armenian independence from the Soviet Union, many Armenian people are returning to the church and religious practices of weddings and baptisms. \u00a0The Armenian woman in the photo above chose to be baptized at Geghard Monastery.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Interior<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Inner Chapel<\/p>\n

Water that seeps through the walls of the mountain is collected in various pools. \u00a0People were touching the water and spreading it on their arms and faces. \u00a0Local legend advises visitors to throw coins into to pool to guarantee their return to Armenia.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Natural Illumination<\/p>\n

Historians believe that the Monastery of Ayrivand may have been founded as early as AD 300 to 400. \u00a0Documentary evidence dates the monastery as far back as the 7th century AD.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Chapel Entrances<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Cathedral Exterior<\/p>\n

The main cathedral in the photo above was built in 1215. \u00a0The numerous chapels were illuminated only from sunlight coming through openings built in the thick stone walls and circular openings (“oculus”) in the middle of the ceiling of the high domes.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Standing in the Light<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wednesday, July 17, 2013 We had booked a tour today with Hyur Service, a local tourist agency, and arranged to take a group tour to visit Garni Temple and Geghard Monastery today. \u00a0Armenia is a very small country so it is feasible to use Yerevan as a base and take day trips out of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5465","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-armenian"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5465","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5465"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5465\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5484,"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5465\/revisions\/5484"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5465"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5465"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5465"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}