Kars Archaeological Site of Ani
Şimdi Kapalı
Ani archaeological sitelocated 42 km from Kars city center and within the borders of Ani villageis the largest archaeological site in the Eastern Anatolia regionbuilt on volcanic land to the west of the Arpaçay River that separates the Türkiye-Armenia border.
In the prehistoric periodthe first settlements in the areas known as Bostanlar Stream and Harmanyerioutside of today's ancient citycontinued until the ChalcolithicOld Bronze Ageand Iron Age. The settlement within the walls of the archaeological site started in the inner castle in the 4th century A.D and the thousand-year-old settlement continued uninterruptedly in the ancient city.
The walls surrounding the archaeological site are the most important architectural elements that 21 architectural structures (templechurchpalacecaravanseraimosquebathmilletc.) and archaeological sites that have survived from religiousadministrativemilitaryand civil architectural examples in the city of Aniwhich is a trade city on the Silk Road and home to many civilizations. After the discovery of the Cape of Good Hope during geographical discoveries in 1497Mediterranean-based trade started to be made over the Atlantic Oceanwhich reduced the importance of the Silk Road. As a resultthe population of the city decreased in the early 16th century due to immigrationand in the 17th centurythe ancient city was completely emptied. Apart from the important monumental architectural structures that have survived in the ruinsthe movable and immovable cultural assets that were destroyed due to various earthquakeswarsor other physical destructions and remained under the ground are revealed by the scientific archaeological excavations carried out in the ruins.
The first archaeological excavations in Ani Ruins were initiated by the Georgian-born Russian archaeologist Nikolai Marr between 1892-1916and continued with Prof. Dr. Kılıç KÖKTEN's surface surveys and sounding excavations between 1940-1943. It continued with the excavations of Prof. Dr. Kemal BALKAN in 1965-66the excavations carried out by Prof. Dr. Beyhan KARAMAĞARALIwhich started in 1989 and continued until 2005and the excavations carried out under the direction of Prof. Dr. Yaşar ÇORUHLU between 2007 and 2010. Between 2014 and 2018excavations were continued by a team headed by Prof Dr. Fahriye BAYRAMand in 2019excavations were carried out with the scientific participation of Kafkas University Faculty Member Dr. Muhammet ARSLAN and his team under the chairmanship of Kars Museum Directorate. These workswhich were unearthed from archaeological excavations and exhibited in the Kars Museumconsist of metal workscoinsglass worksand stone worksespecially terracotta vases.
The surveysounding and archaeological excavations that have been going on for about 100 years show that the settlement here continued uninterrupted from the Chalcolithic period until the middle of the New Age. The city of Aniwhich was a trade city on the Silk Road at the entrance to Anatolia from the Caucasus and grew into a city where approximately 20,000 people lived in the middle ageslived its heyday between the 10th and 13th centuries. In this periodpalaceschurchesmosquesbathscloth millsshopsresidencesetc. were built within the walls surrounding the city and consisting of 5 km and became an important settlement center in this period. 85 hectares of the area of approximately 540 hectares were covered by the Ani Archaeological Site as the 1st and 3rd archaeological sites were surrounded by wallsand the Ani City settlement was formed. There is also a complex of different structuresespecially the caves in the Bostanlar Streamwhere settlements outside the city walls are locatedand archaeological remains with rock paintingscemeteriesand flat settlements around it. The Ateşgede Temple in the archaeological sitechurches and religious temples in which mosques are located symbolize the cultural tourism and faith tourism of Ani City. Along with the archaeological remains outside the city wallsthe waterfall and natural beauties in the Arpaçay Valley also highlight the plateau tourism of Ani.
Aniwhich was included in the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Main List on 15 July 2016; Due to the archaeological and natural values it containsit has become one of the most important archaeological centers of our country open to tourism in terms of cultural tourismfaith tourismand highland tourism. These features increase in importance with the cultural assets that will be revealed through scientific archaeological excavations and the discovery of new places waiting to be discovered on the other side of Ani.
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