Ani proudly resists Turkish barbarism. City of a thousand and one churches

11/7/2012

YEREVAN, JULY 11, ARMENPRESS: Armenian former capital Ani along with its ruined churches and fortress-walls is currently in the center of the tourists’ attention. Ani, Bagratid Dynasty proclaimed capital in the 10 th century though has never possessed a thousand and one churches, it was called so to acquire great fame in the East.

Armenpress reporter concluded her trip to Western Armenia by the visit to Ani. She admired Ani, the 11 th capital of Armenia, saw half-ruined but still standing churches.

‘’At first the road passed through the wilderness, yet soon Ani city walls appeared, which despite its half-remained look, anyhow meets its visitors proudly’’.

Near the gates, at the very top of the gate, Bagratid Dynasty emblem, a rising lion was preserved, which make the enterers become restrained, keep on reminding who the real owners of the city are.

Ani first rose to prominence in the 5th century A.D., as a hilltop fortress belonging to the Armenian Kamsarakan Dynasty. By the ninth century, the Kamsarakan possessions in Eastern Anatolia had merged with the Bagratid Dynasty, and in 956, King Ashot III moved the Armenian capital to Ani. Shortly thereafter, the Armenian Catholicos moved here as well, establishing the city as the undisputed center of Armenia. The city grew rapidly, and by the eleventh century, the city boasted more than 100,000 citizens. At its height of power and wealth, it became known as the City of Forty Gates and the City of a Thousand Churches.

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