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Ani, abandoned city of 1000 churches: News.com.au
July 31, 2014 - 12:36 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - Founded more than 1600 years ago, the ancient city
of Ani was once one of the world's greatest metropolises. Today it
sits in crumbling ruins, its former glory a distant memory, says an
article published in News.com.au World Travel section.
Sitting deep in eastern Turkey, thousands of kilometers from bustling
Istanbul, Ani lay on several trade routes and grew to become a walled
city of more than 100,000 residents by the 11th century, the article
says.
At its peak, Ani was a city of opulence, magnificence and
architectural wonder. It was the citadel, former capital and heart of
the great Armenian empire.
Known as the city of 1000 churches, its religious buildings, palaces
and fortifications were among the most technically and artistically
advanced structures in the world, the article says.
All of its buildings were constructed using local volcanic basalt that
was easily carved and came in a variety of vibrant colors from creamy
yellow, to rose-red to jet black.
In the centuries that followed its peak, Ani and its surrounding
region were conquered hundreds of times by Byzantine emperors, Ottoman
Turks, Armenians, nomadic Kurds, Georgians, and Russians.
By the 1300s the city was in steep decline and completely abandoned by
the 1700s.
Largely forgotten for over 700 years, its crumbling ruins were the
victim of looters and vandals, Turks who tried to eliminate Armenian
history from the area and poorly managed archaeological digs, the
article says.
http://www.panarmenian.net/eng/news/181221/
http://www.news.com.au/travel/world-travel/ani-turkey-was-the-ancient-city-of-1000-churches-and-now-sits-abandoned/story-e6frfqai-1227008454753
July 31, 2014 - 12:36 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - Founded more than 1600 years ago, the ancient city
of Ani was once one of the world's greatest metropolises. Today it
sits in crumbling ruins, its former glory a distant memory, says an
article published in News.com.au World Travel section.
Sitting deep in eastern Turkey, thousands of kilometers from bustling
Istanbul, Ani lay on several trade routes and grew to become a walled
city of more than 100,000 residents by the 11th century, the article
says.
At its peak, Ani was a city of opulence, magnificence and
architectural wonder. It was the citadel, former capital and heart of
the great Armenian empire.
Known as the city of 1000 churches, its religious buildings, palaces
and fortifications were among the most technically and artistically
advanced structures in the world, the article says.
All of its buildings were constructed using local volcanic basalt that
was easily carved and came in a variety of vibrant colors from creamy
yellow, to rose-red to jet black.
In the centuries that followed its peak, Ani and its surrounding
region were conquered hundreds of times by Byzantine emperors, Ottoman
Turks, Armenians, nomadic Kurds, Georgians, and Russians.
By the 1300s the city was in steep decline and completely abandoned by
the 1700s.
Largely forgotten for over 700 years, its crumbling ruins were the
victim of looters and vandals, Turks who tried to eliminate Armenian
history from the area and poorly managed archaeological digs, the
article says.
http://www.panarmenian.net/eng/news/181221/
http://www.news.com.au/travel/world-travel/ani-turkey-was-the-ancient-city-of-1000-churches-and-now-sits-abandoned/story-e6frfqai-1227008454753