An abandoned capital
In the 10th century Ani was the capital of the Bagratid kingdom of Armenia: a city of some 100,000 people, with double walls and so many churches that it became known as “the city of 1,001 churches”. It stood on the Silk Road and rivalled Constantinople and Baghdad. The Seljuks, the Mongols and an earthquake emptied it little by little, and by the 18th century no one was left.
Today the ruins stand on a plateau cut by the gorge of the Arpaçay river, which marks the border with Armenia. On the far side you can see the watchtowers; on this side, churches stand alone in the grass and the wind. Ani has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2016 and remains one of the loneliest and most moving places in Türkiye.
What to see
Ani
You enter through the Lion Gate and explore the site on foot in about three hours: the cathedral by the architect Trdat (the same man who repaired the dome of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople); the Church of St Gregory of Tigran Honents with its frescoes; the round Church of the Redeemer, split clean in half; the Manuchihr Mosque, perched on the edge of the gorge; and the broken bridge over the river, which once carried the Silk Road on towards Persia. Bring water and a hat: there is no shade.
Kars
Kars was Russian from 1878 to 1918, and it shows: a grid of streets, black-stone buildings in a Baltic style and a Russian cathedral that is now a mosque. Above the city stands the 12th-century castle and, at its foot, the 10th-century Church of the Apostles and the Ottoman bridge. This is the city of Orhan Pamuk’s novel Snow.
The Eastern Express
The Doğu Ekspresi, the train that links Ankara and Kars in about 24 hours across eastern Anatolia, has become a journey in its own right, especially when the landscape is under snow.
When to go
May to October is the season for Ani. In winter the temperature drops below -20°C, snow lies from November to April and Kars becomes a ski destination, with the Sarıkamış resort in the same province. June and September are the most pleasant months.
Getting there
There are direct flights from Istanbul (about two hours) and from Ankara. Ani is 45 km from Kars by road. Many travellers combine Kars with Erzurum, Van and Mount Ararat on a longer journey through eastern Türkiye.
What to eat
Roast goose, aged kaşar cheese and Kars gruyère (a legacy of Swiss and Russian settlers), honey from the high plateaus and, in winter, piti (a stew cooked in a clay pot) and thick soups.
Fitting it into your trip
Allow two days: one full day for Ani and another for the city. Kars is the far end of a seven- or eight-day route through eastern Anatolia: Erzurum, Kars, Doğubayazıt and Van.