Italian experts to be involved in Garni Temple bathhouse restoration

The Armenian authorities have been cooperating with leading Italian experts for restoring the bathhouse of the Garni Temple.

The Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport announced Tuesday that it has delegated a restoration project. In 2019, Italian architect Lucio Speca, specializing in restoration work, developed and submitted to the ministry the plan on “Revaluing and Restoring the Garni bathhouse”, which envisages the restoration and reinforcement of the mosaic and replacement of the cover with modern architectural solutions.

Given the importance of the Garni Temple and its bathhouse, as well as the methodology of the Italian expert’s proposal, the ministry launched negotiations with the Italian side and reached an agreement in 2024 to implement the mosaic restoration work by the L’Opificio delle Pietre Dure institute through the support of the Italian embassy in Armenia. The institute is the Italian culture ministry’s specialized organization in research and restoration of monumental art. Its experts conducted on-site measurement work in 2024 and will pay a visit in April-May 2025 to continue the process and take samples.  The restoration work will commence in 2025.

The bathhouse of the Garni Temple dates back to the third century CE.