Visiting Ani: The Long Lost Capital of Armenia

If you ever find yourself in Turkey, pack your bags and go east. Drive through the Anatolian plateau until you can almost touch Armenia, and there you will find a piece of history: Ani. Once the “city of 1,001 churches” and the “cosmopolitan capital of medieval Armenia,” Ani now lies in ruins, a product of war, conflict and political tensions.

Ani’s early days

Ani’s days as the capital of the Bagratid Armenian kingdom were numbered from the start. However, its advantageous location between the Black and the Caspian Seas, its many religious buildings and its sophisticated fortifications were able to secure it the title of capital from 961 to 1045. After the Bagrationi dynasty ruled Ani, the Byzantines took over from 1045 to 1064. The earliest ruins were found by archaeologist Mark Gioloany in 1955, dating back to the 5th century; at the time, Ani was a strategic fortress on a hilltop under the control of the Armenian Kamsarakan dynasty. Size, power and wealth made the city an important trading hub, leading to a growth in cultural capital, so much so that it became the site of the royal mausoleum of the Bagratuni kings. The city saw days of prosperity under the reign of King Gagik I that lasted from 989 to 1020, during which it was one of the largest existing cities with a population greater than 100,000.

The Armenian nation found a part of its identity in Christianity, which was adopted as the state’s religion in 300 AD. Its presence is reflected in the ruins of Ani, where historians and archaeologists excavated as many as 50 churches, 33 cave chapels and 20 chapels. Scholars have argued that its gothic style later influenced the early Romanesque and Gothic designs found in many European cathedrals.

Ani’s downfall

Being a center of cultural exchange and economic prosperity, Ani received much attention from its neighboring states. Over the years, the 85 hectares on which Ani stands were home to numerous languages and civilizations (23), including Armenian, Greek, Turkish, Arabic, Georgian and Persian. Ani’s downfall began in 1064 when it surrendered to Persian control during Seljuk Sultan Alparslan’s 25-day siege, which slaughtered much of the city’s population. Not long after, the Seljuks sold Ani to a Muslim Kurdish dynasty, the Shaddadids. Under the Shaddadids, the people of Ani saw an attempt at reconciliation. However, the populace appealed to the Christian Kingdom of Georgia, which was able to capture the city a total of five times between 1124 and 1209. The first three times, Ani was recaptured by the Shaddadids. However, when it was taken in 1199 by Queen Tamar of Georgia, it was placed in the tight grip of generals Zakare and Ivane, who established control under a new dynasty: the Zakarids.

During the reign of the Zakarids, Ani saw prosperity once more through further fortifications and an increase in religious buildings. While the Mongols failed to gain control of the city in 1226, they were successful in 1236 when they massacred a large portion of the population. By the 14th century, however, Ani was under the reign of a succession of Turkish dynasties. Through the years of Turkish rule, the Jalayirids and the Kara Koyunlu were the only two dynasties that made Ani their capital. The 1319 earthquake further destabilized the city by reducing the infrastructure to shambles. When the capital finally transferred to Yerevan, Ani lost most of its wealth and power. The city joined the Ottoman Empire in 1579 under the rule of the Safavids; by then, only a tiny fraction of the town remained inside the walls, and by 1735, the last monks left the monastery in the Virgin’s Fortress or Kizkalesi. Ani was left abandoned.

Modern day Ani

Few make their way to what was once the great city of Ani. In the second half of the 20th century, tourists stayed away from the geopolitical fault line on which Ani stood; the land between North Atlantic Treaty Organization member Turkey and Soviet-controlled Armenia. For many Armenians, Ani is yet another reminder of what the Turkish took from them.

I made my way to Ani in July of 2022. Upon arrival, the old city walls are the first thing you see — colossal walls made of large boulders, big enough to make anyone feel small. Aside from my family and me, there were only two other tourists and a few locals. Ani lacks attention and restoration; once beautiful churches are now being covered in weeds, the affreschi on the walls have been scratched and written on and a few pieces of wood pretend to prevent the remaining structures from collapsing. Once a city of cultural exchange and economic prosperity, Ani is now a place of loss and mourning for the Armenian nation and a strategic advantage for the Turkish. If you ever manage to explore Ani, I suggest you visit during the last light of day, when the sun shines a little more orange, bringing out the reds and yellows of the local basalt stone.