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THE ATLANTIC: THE ANCIENT GHOST CITY OF ANI
13:09 27/01/2014 " SOCIETY
The Atlantic has published an article about the city of Ani and photos
of the city.
Situated on the eastern border of Turkey, across the Akhurian River
from Armenia, lies the empty, crumbling site of the once-great
metropolis of Ani, known as "the city of a thousand and one churches".
Founded more than 1,600 years ago, Ani was situated on several
trade routes, and grew to become a walled city of more than 100,000
residents by the 11th century. In the centuries that followed, Ani and
the surrounding region were conquered hundreds of times -- Byzantine
emperors, Ottoman Turks, Armenians, nomadic Kurds, Georgians, and
Russians claimed and reclaimed the area, repeatedly attacking and
chasing out residents.
By the 1300s, Ani was in steep decline, and it was completely abandoned
by the 1700s. Rediscovered and romanticized in the 19th century, the
city had a brief moment of fame, only to be closed off by World War
I and the later events of the Armenian Genocide that left the region
an empty, militarized no-man's land. The ruins crumbled at the hands
of many: looters, vandals, Turks who tried to eliminate Armenian
history from the area, clumsy archaeological digs, well-intentioned
people who made poor attempts at restoration, and Mother Nature
herself. Restrictions on travel to Ani have eased in the past decade,
allowing the following photos to be taken.
[27 photos]
http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2014/01/the-ancient-ghost-city-of-ani/100668
http://www.panorama.am/en/society/2014/01/27/the-atlantic/
13:09 27/01/2014 " SOCIETY
The Atlantic has published an article about the city of Ani and photos
of the city.
Situated on the eastern border of Turkey, across the Akhurian River
from Armenia, lies the empty, crumbling site of the once-great
metropolis of Ani, known as "the city of a thousand and one churches".
Founded more than 1,600 years ago, Ani was situated on several
trade routes, and grew to become a walled city of more than 100,000
residents by the 11th century. In the centuries that followed, Ani and
the surrounding region were conquered hundreds of times -- Byzantine
emperors, Ottoman Turks, Armenians, nomadic Kurds, Georgians, and
Russians claimed and reclaimed the area, repeatedly attacking and
chasing out residents.
By the 1300s, Ani was in steep decline, and it was completely abandoned
by the 1700s. Rediscovered and romanticized in the 19th century, the
city had a brief moment of fame, only to be closed off by World War
I and the later events of the Armenian Genocide that left the region
an empty, militarized no-man's land. The ruins crumbled at the hands
of many: looters, vandals, Turks who tried to eliminate Armenian
history from the area, clumsy archaeological digs, well-intentioned
people who made poor attempts at restoration, and Mother Nature
herself. Restrictions on travel to Ani have eased in the past decade,
allowing the following photos to be taken.
[27 photos]
http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2014/01/the-ancient-ghost-city-of-ani/100668
http://www.panorama.am/en/society/2014/01/27/the-atlantic/