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Photo: Liveon001, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
A hidden gem in Garni, a small basilica built in the 12th C in dark grey stone with red tufa decorations, intricately carved.
Mashtots Hayrapet 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.
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crossing the Azat River. This is the starting point of the trail leading to Havuts Tar Monastery, which is about 5-6 km away from the bridge.
Temple complex perched above the canyon of the Azat river. Its centrepiece is the Hellenistic temple built in the 1st C BC - this was smashed by an earthquake in 1679 but reconstructed in the 1970s. Also here are the medieval main gate and fortifications, the circular foundations of a church built in 897 AD, walls of a two-storey royal summer palace built by the Urartians in the 8th C BC, a Roman-era bath house, and a cemetery. Guided tours are available but the place is self-explanatory.
This portion of the Garni Gorge is typically referred to as the "Symphony of the Stones". All along the sides of the gorge are vertical cliff walls of well preserved basalt columns. It is well worth the walk
11th- to 13th-century walled monastery. Just before entering through the wall surrounding the Havuts Tar monastery, a trail leads to the right up a hill and through a slightly wooded area. At the end of this trail not too far away, are the ruins of a small chapel with two khachkars nearby to the left and one to the right.