Garni Gorge

Garni (Armenian: Գառնի), is a major village in the Kotayk Province of Armenia. It is known for the nearby classical temple. As of the 2011 census, the population of the village is 6,910.

The Battle of Garni (Georgian: გარნისის ბრძოლა, Armenian: Գառնիի ճակատամարտ) was fought in 1225 near Garni, in modern day Armenia, then part of the Kingdom of Georgia. The invading Khwarazmian Empire was led by Jalal al-Din Mangburni, its last sultan, who had been driven from his realm by the Mongol Empire and was trying to recapture lost territories. The battle ended with a Khwarezmid victory and is marked as a disastrous event in Georgian history due to betrayal. As a result, the royal court of Georgian Queen Rusudan (1223–1245) moved to Kutaisi and the country was exposed to subsequent looting during the Mongol invasions of Georgia.

The Garni Temple is a classical colonnaded structure in the village of Garni, in central Armenia, around 30 km (19 mi) east of Yerevan. Built in the Ionic order, it is the best-known structure and symbol of pre-Christian Armenia. It has been described as the "easternmost building of the Greco-Roman world" and the only largely preserved Hellenistic building in the former Soviet Union. It is conventionally identified as a pagan temple built by King Tiridates I in the first century AD as a temple to the sun god Mihr (Mithra). A competing hypothesis sees it as a second century tomb. It collapsed in a 1679 earthquake, but much of its fragments remained on the site. Renewed interest in the 19th century led to excavations in the early and mid-20th century. It was reconstructed in 1969–75, using the anastylosis technique. It is one of the main tourist attractions in Armenia and the central shrine of Armenian neopaganism.

Mashtots Hayrapet (Armenian: Մաշտոց Հայրապետ եկեղեցի; also Pok'r meaning "Little") is a church located within the village of Garni in the Kotayk Province of Armenia. It was built in the 12th century at the site of what was formerly a pagan shrine. A stone carved from red tufa is situated at the right of the entrance to the grounds upon a low rock wall. Upon it is the design of a bird perched on a floral stem with the rosette of eternity under its tail; the latter being a distinctive pagan symbol representing the sun or the moon, symbolizing the eternal cycle of life, death, and rebirth. It is said that because of this pagan symbology, this stone has a connection to the prior shrine. The church has a small cruciform type central-plan with a single drum and dome. It is constructed from dark grey stone, with red tufa inlaid around the windows, roof, and dome. Elaborate decorations of geometric and foliage patterns may be seen all around the windows, portal, dome, and other parts of the building's façade. The apron around the apse in the interior of the church also is intricately carved. A number of khachkars are scattered around the church grounds, including one in particular adjacent to the building that is reminiscent of a small shrine. In the village can be found the fortress complex of Garni with the 1st century AD Garni Temple, Surb Astvatsatsin Church, a ruined 4th century single-aisle church, a ruined Tukh Manuk Shrine, Saint Sargis Shrine, and a Queen Katranide Shrine. Across the Garni Gorge are the ruins of Havuts Tar Monastery and Aghjots Vank located in the Khosrov State Reserve.

Havuts Tar (Armenian: Հավուց Թառ Վանք; also Havuts Tar Vank; translates to the "All Savior Monastery") is an 11th to 13th century walled monastery, situated upon a promontory along the Azat River Valley across from the villages of Goght and Garni in the Kotayk Province of Armenia. It is easily reached via the Khosrov State Reserve (which it is situated within), located across the Garni Gorge. The Havuts Tar Trail leads directly from the east side (left) of the reserve entrance to the monastic complex. An alternate route/shortcut to the monastery can be found at the end of the main road along the Azat River and just past the fish hatchery ponds. It takes approximately thirty minutes to reach the ruins of the monastery via the Havuts Tar Trail. A couple of khachkars can be found midway along the trail as it forks left upon a very low mound. Also, a short distance from the monastery (clearly visible oh a hill in the background) in a small field to the left, is a large khachkar and a small ruined monument. Following the trail a little further leads to the fortified walls and ruins of the monastic complex. Just before entering the monastery, a small path leads up a hill to the east and through a semi-wooded area. At the end of the path are the ruins of a small chapel with two large khachkars to the left, and a third to the right.

Goght (Armenian: Գողթ; formerly Goghot) is a village in the Kotayk Province of Armenia, located on the right bank of the upper-Azat River. It is known from 13th-century manuscripts as Goghot. It is located near Garni and sits along the road leading to Geghard Monastery. The village has a small ruined basilica from the 17th or 18th century located straight down a dirt road from the main square. Some khachkars are built into the exterior walls of the church, as well as at its altar. Goght sits overlooking a large gorge and upon a promontory on the other side is the 11th- to 13th-century monastery of Havuts Tar. It may be reached by foot from the town, but more easily from Garni via the Garni Gorge. The community has a school, kindergarten, house of culture, and a library. The local economy is heavily dependent on agriculture, based primarily on grain farming, orchard cultivation, and cattle-breeding.

Geghmahovit (Armenian: Գեղմահովիտ) or Bayburd (Armenian: Բայբուրդ) is an abandoned town in the Ararat Province of Armenia. Traces of an early medieval armenian Bayburd settlement have been preserved in the Khosrov reserve, at the confluence of the Aghjo and Glan tributaries of the Azat River. Historical and bibliographic information about the village has not been preserved. The only mention is made by the 19th century historian, philologist-geographer Ghevont Alishan, who thinks that the name of the village must have come from Baberd. In the central part of the village, a single-nave basilica church of the 5th century, built of polished gray basalt, is preserved. The carved capitals of the half-ruined church are remarkable: the archetype with an equal crucifix in the central part. Adjacent to the south is the vestibule, which is now in ruins. According to the inscription preserved in the church structure, the village survived until the 17th century, when Armenians were deported in 1604 during the deportation carried out by Shah Abbas I of Persia Abbas the Great. The cemetery from the 7th-15th centuries is spread around the church, with dozens of khachkars. In the 1980s, a stone with an inverted Greek inscription was found here during the cleaning works. Translation of the inscription is "Health" and "Happiness". Ruins, from after that period, show that local Azerbaijanis population abandoned the village, presumably after the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia (Nagorno-Karabakh conflict).

Hatsavan (Armenian: Հացավան, also Romanized as Hats’avan and Atsavan; formerly, Avdalar) is a town in the Kotayk Province of Armenia.

Pokr Gilanlar (also, Pokr-Gilaylar, and Malaya Gilanlar) is a hamlet in the Ararat Province of Armenia.

Geghadir (Armenian: Գեղադիր), known as Kyarpichlu until 1935, is a village in the Kotayk Province of Armenia located on the Yerevan–Garni road. The ancestors of the inhabitants came from Van, Khnus, Kars, and Bitlis in 1918–1924. Before that, the village was primarily populated by Turkic-speaking Muslims (i.e. Azerbaijanis).

Geghard (Armenian: Գեղարդ, also Romanized as Geghart; formerly, Artiz) is a village in the Kotayk Province of Armenia. The UNESCO World Heritage Site of Geghard monastery is located southeast of Geghard village, near Goght.

The 1679 Armenia earthquake (also called Yerevan earthquake or Garni earthquake) took place on June 4 in the Yerevan region of Armenia, then part of the Safavid Iran.Numerous buildings were destroyed as a result of the earthquake. In Yerevan most notable structures were damaged. The Yerevan Fortress was destroyed, so were the following churches: Poghos-Petros, Katoghike, Zoravor and the Gethsemane Chapel.Furthermore, the nearby Kanaker village was destroyed. The classical Hellenistic Temple of Garni also collapsed. Among many churches and monasteries that were reduced to ruins were Havuts Tar, Saint Sargis Monastery of Ushi, Hovhannavank, Geghard, and Khor Virap.