Garni pagan temple and Geghard cave monastery

 


The Garni pagan temple and the Geghard monastery complex can be easily visited from Yerevan by public transport as a day-trip, no need to join a tour. First, from the centre of Yerevan, you have to take bus number 5 or 8 to the Armenia Megamall on Gai Avenue in one of the outer suburbs (near the Gai monument), and from there bus number 266 goes to Garni. It's only one single temple - beautiful, but there is not much else to see so you'll finish fast. (You could also visit the basalt columns in the bottom of the valley, which can be seen from the temple.) After Garni, you have to get back on bus 266 and go to its final stop, the village of Goght. Geghard monastery is another 3 kilometres from there, so you have to walk this stretch, or get a taxi. A local taxi driver may be waiting at the bus stop, and for a very reasonable 1000 AMD will take you to the monastery. Apart from the main monastery, partly carved into the rock, you'll find several cave chapels and you can get a great view from the monastery from above.

























































































































































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