collage42 -Pia-Vittoria
Temple in Garni (Armenia)
Garni , un comune di 7.415 abitanti (2008) della provincia di Kotayk' in Armenia, situato a circa 32 km a sud-est di Yerevan, noto soprattutto per il suo complesso archeologico fortificato. Il sito riceve un gran numero di visitatori ogni anno.
Nel III millennio a.C. una prima fortificazione fu costruita nella zona, su un terreno facilmente difendibile, in prossimitdi un'ansa formata dal fiume Azat. Conquistata nell'VIII secolo a.C. dal re di Urartu Argishti I, la fortezza divenne base militare e residenza estiva del sovrano. Da allora vennero costruiti molti altri edifici, tra i quali il palazzo reale, i bagni e uno degli edifici pifamosi: un tempio ad imitazione del Partenone. Di particolare interesse sono i bagni, situati nella parte settentrionale del sito, che presentano una cella di riscaldamento ancora ben conservata. Il pavimento interno del bagno decorato con mosaici ispirati a figure della mitologia greca, tra le quali spicca Teti. Una delle iscrizioni in koingreca recita: "ΜΗΔΕΝ ΛΑΒΟΝΤΕΣ ΗΡΓΑΣΑΜΕΘΑ"; e cio "senza aver preso nulla, abbiamo lavorato".
Il tempio fu edificato nel I secolo d.C. dal re Tiridate I di Armenia e la costruzione fu forse finanziata grazie al denaro che il re armeno ricevette dall'imperatore Nerone durante la sua visita a Roma. Il tempio era probabilmente dedicato al dio Mitra. La copertura dell'edificio sorretta da 24 colonne di ordine ionico. Diversamente da altri templi greco-romani, quello di Garni presenta un basamento di basalto. L'edificio anddistrutto in seguito ad un terremoto nel 1679. Gran parte dei pezzi originari rimasero sul posto fino al XX secolo cosicch tra il 1969 e il 1979, fu possibile ricostruire la struttura. Negli ultimi anni, alcuni archeologi hanno avanzato un'altra ipotesi circa l'origine del tempio: esso, infatti, sarebbe stato costruito quale sepolcro del re armeno Sohaemus. Se fosse cos la costruzione del tempio andrebbe postdatata al 175 d.C.Dopo la conversione degli armeni al Cristianesimo, alcune chiese e il palazzo di un katholikos furono costruiti entro i confini della fortezza: anche di questi edifici, come tutti gli altri (fatta eccezione per il tempio), rimangono solo alcune rovine.
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The temple was built in the second half of the first century B.C. and dedicated to a heathen god, probably to Mithra (Mihr in Armenian), the god of the sun whose figure stood in the depth of the sanctuary (naos). After Christianity had been proclaimed the state religion in Armenia in 301, the temple was probably used as a summer residence of the kings.
In its style, the temple, a six-column periptere, resembles similar structures in Asia Minor (baths at Sagala and Pergamum), Syria (Baalbek) and Rome. Its architectural shapes are basically-Hellenistic but local traditions also show in it. It should be noted that a rectangle-based religious edifice with columns and a pediment was known on the territory of the Armenian upland back in the epoch of the Urartians; such, for instance, was the temple in Musasir (the 9th‑8th centuries B.C.), a representation of which can be seen on an ancient Assyrian bas-relief. Quite possibly, this type of architecture influenced the overall composition of Armenia's heathen temples in general, and that of Garni temple, especially the outlines of certain details and the interior decoration.
The temple stands on a high podium with a two-step base and is surrounded with 24 Ionic columns. A broad nine-step stairway leads up to the podium. The sides of the stairway are decorated with bas-relief, placed symmetrically relative to the main axis of the building, showing kneeling Atlantes with uplifted hands who seemed to support the torches which used to stand higher. This sculptural motif is flown from later monuments of East Roman provinces, such a Niha in Syria (the first century A.D.). In front of a rectangular stone-floored naos there is a shallow pronaos with antae and an entrance-way framed in a platband. The small size of the sanctuary shows that it contained only a statue of the deity, and that worship was performed in the pronaos.
The bases of the columns resemble those of Attic temples in their shapes, the shafts are smooth, the Ionic capitals are decorated with clean-cut moulded, rather than hewn, volutes and ovae and leaf ornaments which differ from column to column a characteristic feature of Armenian monuments. The shape of the corner capitals is most interesting on them as distinct from the inside columns, the volutes of the adjacent front sides are turned at a right angle, and the floral ornament of the lateral sides are more graceful in their composition.
The richly ornamented entablature is distinguished by the overhanging upper part of the architrave and frieze. This feature is also to be seen in the later monuments of Syria (2nd century) and Italy (4th century). As distinct from these works of Hellenistic art, however, the ornamentation of the entablature of Garni temple is more variegated. The frieze shows fronds of acanthus combined with flowers and rosettes of various shapes and outlines. Besides acanthus, it also features laurel and oak leaves, as well as grapes, pomegranate and other floral motives characteristic of the Orient.
The cornice is ornamented with dummy spillways shaped as lionsheads with bared teeth.
The pediment was smooth. The soffits of the architrave, the ceilings of the portico and the wings of the temple were decorated with floral ornaments, octagon and diamond-shaped ornamented caissons. Carving on hard basalt, rather than on the soft marble characteristic of Roman architecture, is evidence of the fact that all structures in the cities of that epoch Armavir, Yervandashat, Vagarshapat, etc. were created by Armenian craftsmen. Their style shows in the variety of ornamental motifs, in the depiction of specimens of local flora in ornaments and flat carvings.
Temple in Garni (Armenia)
Garni , un comune di 7.415 abitanti (2008) della provincia di Kotayk' in Armenia, situato a circa 32 km a sud-est di Yerevan, noto soprattutto per il suo complesso archeologico fortificato. Il sito riceve un gran numero di visitatori ogni anno.
Nel III millennio a.C. una prima fortificazione fu costruita nella zona, su un terreno facilmente difendibile, in prossimitdi un'ansa formata dal fiume Azat. Conquistata nell'VIII secolo a.C. dal re di Urartu Argishti I, la fortezza divenne base militare e residenza estiva del sovrano. Da allora vennero costruiti molti altri edifici, tra i quali il palazzo reale, i bagni e uno degli edifici pifamosi: un tempio ad imitazione del Partenone. Di particolare interesse sono i bagni, situati nella parte settentrionale del sito, che presentano una cella di riscaldamento ancora ben conservata. Il pavimento interno del bagno decorato con mosaici ispirati a figure della mitologia greca, tra le quali spicca Teti. Una delle iscrizioni in koingreca recita: "ΜΗΔΕΝ ΛΑΒΟΝΤΕΣ ΗΡΓΑΣΑΜΕΘΑ"; e cio "senza aver preso nulla, abbiamo lavorato".
Il tempio fu edificato nel I secolo d.C. dal re Tiridate I di Armenia e la costruzione fu forse finanziata grazie al denaro che il re armeno ricevette dall'imperatore Nerone durante la sua visita a Roma. Il tempio era probabilmente dedicato al dio Mitra. La copertura dell'edificio sorretta da 24 colonne di ordine ionico. Diversamente da altri templi greco-romani, quello di Garni presenta un basamento di basalto. L'edificio anddistrutto in seguito ad un terremoto nel 1679. Gran parte dei pezzi originari rimasero sul posto fino al XX secolo cosicch tra il 1969 e il 1979, fu possibile ricostruire la struttura. Negli ultimi anni, alcuni archeologi hanno avanzato un'altra ipotesi circa l'origine del tempio: esso, infatti, sarebbe stato costruito quale sepolcro del re armeno Sohaemus. Se fosse cos la costruzione del tempio andrebbe postdatata al 175 d.C.Dopo la conversione degli armeni al Cristianesimo, alcune chiese e il palazzo di un katholikos furono costruiti entro i confini della fortezza: anche di questi edifici, come tutti gli altri (fatta eccezione per il tempio), rimangono solo alcune rovine.
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The temple was built in the second half of the first century B.C. and dedicated to a heathen god, probably to Mithra (Mihr in Armenian), the god of the sun whose figure stood in the depth of the sanctuary (naos). After Christianity had been proclaimed the state religion in Armenia in 301, the temple was probably used as a summer residence of the kings.
In its style, the temple, a six-column periptere, resembles similar structures in Asia Minor (baths at Sagala and Pergamum), Syria (Baalbek) and Rome. Its architectural shapes are basically-Hellenistic but local traditions also show in it. It should be noted that a rectangle-based religious edifice with columns and a pediment was known on the territory of the Armenian upland back in the epoch of the Urartians; such, for instance, was the temple in Musasir (the 9th‑8th centuries B.C.), a representation of which can be seen on an ancient Assyrian bas-relief. Quite possibly, this type of architecture influenced the overall composition of Armenia's heathen temples in general, and that of Garni temple, especially the outlines of certain details and the interior decoration.
The temple stands on a high podium with a two-step base and is surrounded with 24 Ionic columns. A broad nine-step stairway leads up to the podium. The sides of the stairway are decorated with bas-relief, placed symmetrically relative to the main axis of the building, showing kneeling Atlantes with uplifted hands who seemed to support the torches which used to stand higher. This sculptural motif is flown from later monuments of East Roman provinces, such a Niha in Syria (the first century A.D.). In front of a rectangular stone-floored naos there is a shallow pronaos with antae and an entrance-way framed in a platband. The small size of the sanctuary shows that it contained only a statue of the deity, and that worship was performed in the pronaos.
The bases of the columns resemble those of Attic temples in their shapes, the shafts are smooth, the Ionic capitals are decorated with clean-cut moulded, rather than hewn, volutes and ovae and leaf ornaments which differ from column to column a characteristic feature of Armenian monuments. The shape of the corner capitals is most interesting on them as distinct from the inside columns, the volutes of the adjacent front sides are turned at a right angle, and the floral ornament of the lateral sides are more graceful in their composition.
The richly ornamented entablature is distinguished by the overhanging upper part of the architrave and frieze. This feature is also to be seen in the later monuments of Syria (2nd century) and Italy (4th century). As distinct from these works of Hellenistic art, however, the ornamentation of the entablature of Garni temple is more variegated. The frieze shows fronds of acanthus combined with flowers and rosettes of various shapes and outlines. Besides acanthus, it also features laurel and oak leaves, as well as grapes, pomegranate and other floral motives characteristic of the Orient.
The cornice is ornamented with dummy spillways shaped as lionsheads with bared teeth.
The pediment was smooth. The soffits of the architrave, the ceilings of the portico and the wings of the temple were decorated with floral ornaments, octagon and diamond-shaped ornamented caissons. Carving on hard basalt, rather than on the soft marble characteristic of Roman architecture, is evidence of the fact that all structures in the cities of that epoch Armavir, Yervandashat, Vagarshapat, etc. were created by Armenian craftsmen. Their style shows in the variety of ornamental motifs, in the depiction of specimens of local flora in ornaments and flat carvings.