Ani

Ani is a very old city in Türkiye. Nobody lives there now.

It sits on a high, flat hill. Deep valleys run around it.

Ani stands in northeast Türkiye, 42 kilometers from the city of Kars. It sits on a plateau, a high, flat piece of land, shaped like a triangle. On one side, a deep ravine forms a natural border with Armenia.

Today the city is empty. UNESCO describes its ruins as a mix of houses, religious buildings and military buildings, built up over many centuries. It became a World Heritage Site in 2016.

UNESCO places Ani in northeast Türkiye, 42 km from Kars, on a secluded triangular plateau overlooking a ravine that forms the natural border with Armenia. The plateau was easy to defend, was surrounded by fertile river valleys and stood at an important gate of the Silk Roads into Anatolia, which UNESCO credits for almost 2,500 years of settlement.

The property covers 250.7 hectares, with a buffer zone of 432.45 hectares. UNESCO inscribed it in 2016 under criteria (ii), (iii) and (iv), describing a medieval city of domestic, religious and military buildings raised over the centuries by successive Christian and Muslim dynasties.

Ani had strong walls, palaces and a market.

Under the ground, there are tunnels and caves!

UNESCO divides Ani into three zones. The citadel holds the ruins of a palace and several churches. The walled city has a cathedral, ramparts (strong defensive walls), a palace, houses, a market and the Silk Road Bridge. The third zone lies outside the city walls.

Caves were carved into the rock on the slopes of a valley next to the city, and tunnels and caves run beneath the plateau, linking it to the deep river valleys around it.

The property has three zones: the citadel, with the ruins of the Kamsaragan palace and several churches; the outer citadel or walled city, with the Cathedral, the Ramparts of Smbat II, the Emir Ebu'l Muammeran Complex, the Seljuk Palace, domestic architecture, the market and the Silk Road Bridge; and the area outside the city walls.

Rock-carved structures on the slopes of the Bostanlar Creek valley are also part of the site. UNESCO highlights the tunnels and caves beneath the Ani plateau, which connect to the surrounding volcanic tufa setting of deep river valleys, and describes the uninhabited city as standing over 'an invisible landscape of underground tunnels and caves'.

This photo was taken at Ani. Can you see the caves cut into the rocky cliff? Far away, there are snowy mountains!

This photo was taken at the Ani archaeological site on 8 March 2020. It shows a rocky cliff full of caves cut into the rock, with a dirt road curving below. Patches of snow lie on the ground, and snowy mountains rise on the horizon.

Ani is protected by law in Türkiye, and work continues to keep its old buildings standing.

The photograph (8 March 2020, Héctor Ochoa 'Robot8A', described on Commons as a 'View from Ani Archeological Site') shows a cliff of rock-cut caves above a valley, with a dirt road below and snow-covered mountains on the horizon. UNESCO counts the rock-carved structures on the slopes of the Bostanlar Creek valley as part of the property and also mentions rock-cut caves along Arpaçay Creek.

Ani has been on Türkiye's national inventory since 1988 as a 1st Degree Archaeological Conservation Site. UNESCO notes that every monument faces structural problems and that a conservation strategy and action plan are being carried out.