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Revision as of 05:52, 30 September 2005
Ani, known to Romans as Abnicum, is a ruined capital of medieval Armenia, situated in Turkey, district of Kars, immediately south from the Turko-Armenian frontier, at an altitude of 4390 ft., between the border river Harpasus (Arpa-Çai in Turkish, Akhurjan in Armenian) and a deep ravine.
In the tenth century the town of Ani was expanded into a major city by Ashot III, who made it the capital of Armenia under the Bagratid dynasty (961). When it was handed over to the Byzantines in 1045, it was a populous city, known traditionally as the "city with the 1001 churches." It was then occupied by the Seljuk Turks in 1064, getting under Turkmen sovereignty later. It was taken five times by the Georgians between 1125 and 1209, in 1239 by the Mongols, and its ruin was completed by an earthquake in 1319. It was slowly abandoned after the 14th century, being dominated by the Ottoman Empire and Turkey after 1534.
It was during a brief period of Russian domination (from 1878 to 1917) that the scientific investigation of the site was made possible. First excavations were conducted by the celebrated Georgian historian Nicholas Marr. Ani is now about 42 km (26 miles) away from the Turkish province Kars, near the Arpaçay Brook, a branch of the Araks River that constitutes the border between Armenia and Turkey, within Turkish borders. The city is reknowned for its well-preserved ruins of medieval Armenian architecture, although the ruins are threatened by Turkish efforts, largely ignorant of the architectural continuity of the ruins, to "rebuild" them. It is still surrounded by a double wall partly in ruins, and amongst the remains are a "patriarchal" church finished in 1010, two other churches, both of the 11th century, a fourth built in 1215, and a palace of large size.