Bash Garni is a village in the Iravan uezd of the former Iravan governorate, later in the former Ellar (Kotayk, Abovyan) district, and currently in the Kotayk province. The provincial centre lies 63 km to the south of the town of Akhta (Hrazdan), and at a height of 1,400 m above sea level. It was marked on the five-verst map of the Caucasus. The village was built at the source of the Garni River.

The toponym was coined by combining the word “bash” used in Turkic in the sense of “the source of the river” and the word “garni” “gərini” (gərni) used in the sense of “a castle” in the Urartian language.

The village was renamed “Garni” by the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Armenian Republic dated 3 January 1935. According to the law “On the administrative-territorial division of the Republic of Armenia” dated 7 November 1995, it was integrated into the administrative area of the Kotayk province.

Geographic coordinates: latitude: 40°07′ N., longitude: 44°43′ E.