Ani

Ani spreads its ruined splendour across a grass steppe above the Akhurian river gorge at Turkey's far eastern edge - a medieval metropolis that served as capital of the Bagratid Armenian kingdom from 961 to 1045, grew rich on a branch of the Silk Road, and was celebrated as the 'city of 1,001 churches'. Perhaps 100,000 people lived here at its height; invasions and a 1319 earthquake slowly emptied it, and what remains is one of the world's great abandoned cities - the fractured cathedral, the round Church of the Redeemer sliced in half, the frescoed church of St Gregory of Tigran Honents on the gorge lip, a mosque's minaret, and double walls running the plateau's neck. UNESCO inscribed the site in 2016, and its emptiness under the enormous sky is the point: an entire city, and the wind.

History

Armenian chroniclers of the 5th century first mention Ani as a strong hilltop fortress of the Kamsarakan dynasty, and by the early 9th century its lands had passed to the Bagratuni dynasty, which won independence from the Arabs late in that century. The Bagratunis moved their capital from Bagaran to Shirakavan and then to Kars in 929, and in 961 King Ashot III moved it to Ani, which grew fast under Smbat II, received the seat of the Armenian Catholicos in 992 and may have had 50,000 to 100,000 people in the 10th century. It was the capital of the Bagratuni kingdom until 1045, was celebrated as the city of 1,001 churches, though there were far fewer, and its cathedral is linked with early ribbed vaulting of a kind European cathedrals adopted much later; 50 churches, 33 cave chapels and 20 chapels have been excavated so far (Wikipedia, Ani).

What's there

• The cathedral - the great domed shell completed around 1001 by the architect Trdat.
• St Gregory of Tigran Honents - the frescoed church above the gorge.
• The Church of the Redeemer - the half-standing rotunda, braced and defiant.
• The city walls - the double line of red-stone towers across the plateau.

When to go

May to June and September for green steppe and bearable temperatures; July and August bake and winter buries the plateau in snow. Late afternoon light turns the stone red-gold.

Before you go

Ani is 45 km from Kars with no practical public transport - hire a taxi for a half day or join a tour. The site is huge, shadeless and windswept: water, sun cover and two to three hours of walking are the minimum. Facilities are basic.

Nearby

Kars and its stone architecture, with the Sarikamis forests to the southwest.

Key facts