Kars and Ani Ruins

The final place we wanted to visit before leaving Turkey was the town of Kars, a city in northeastern Turkey near the Armenian border, and to visit the Ani ruins, which sits on the border between Turkey and Armenia. Nathan and I went for a quick weekend trip, and we had a great time exploring this very interesting part of the country.  Kars is located on a high plateau, over a mile above sea level, and is one of the coldest places in Turkey. In the winter time, there is a popular 24 hour train ride called the Doğa Ekspres (nature express) that goes from Ankara and Kars.  If you are lucky to get a ticket (they are hard to come by), you can experience a cross-country winter wonderland. We initially planned to go as a family in the winter by plane, but things got too busy and in hindsight it was much better that we went in the spring. Flying in…                                                                                                  

The reason I wanted to visit was Kars was from a novel I read shortly after arriving in Turkey, called ‘Snow,’ written by Turkish author Orhan Pamuk. The novel took place in the town of Kars, and the main setting of the novel was this hotel. It was a no frills, old fashioned, small 8 room hotel in the heart of town. The city was similar to how it was described in the book, bleak, not very populated, and you can see lots of old Russian influence in the architecture. It was not typical of other Turkish towns we visited that were colorful, lively, and upbeat. 

There was one other occupant in the hotel, we had it practically to ourselves.

The first afternoon we walked downtown to see the Kars castle, Kars River, and explore downtown.

Beautiful view of the city from the top.

I loved the sign in the back under the Turkish flag and image of Ataturk, it says ‘The homeland is thankful for you.’ Turkish patriotism everywhere you turn.

On the way down from the citadel, we stopped at Cumbet Camii, an old Armenian Church (Church of the Apostles) from the 16th century, that was converted into a mosque.

We were the only ones there, and the person watching over the mosque was happy to have his young son give us a tour. They were surprised to see Americans, and were curious why we were visiting Kars.

Kars is also famous for its cheese, Kashar cheese, and they have a museum dedicated to it. We were hoping for some good cheese samples, but that came another time, so we enjoyed reading the history and learning that the cheese was brought to Turkey in the early 1920’s from the Balkan migration.

Always interesting to see the political party headquarters buildings in towns we visit. This is the AK Party, which was President Erdogan’s political party.

We got to sample lots of cheese at breakfast in the hotel. It was so tasty.

That next day, we visited Ani Ruins, a remote medieval city located on a secluded plateau about 45 mins east of Kars, overlooking a ravine that forms a natural border with Armenia. The site has examples of residential, religious, and military structures built up over the centuries by various Christian and Muslim dynasties. The city thrived in the 10th and 11th centuries and was the capital of the Armenian kingdom of the Bagratides, then came under Byzantine, Seljuk, and Georgian rule, and was an important stop along the Silk Road. The city was invaded by the Mongols in 1319 and since then declined. It’s a very large city and we spent several hours there with a guide to see various churches and mosques. The military part of the city was closed down for the day because the Turkish Armed Forces had an exercise planned there, so we saw that part from afar. This is a map of the city.

Gates to enter Ani. Winter is said to be a beautiful, but very cold time to visit, but we really lucked out visiting one of the few weeks in spring when all the flowers were in bloom. It was colorful and beautiful!

Old city walls.

There were Armenian and Georgian churches scattered throughout the city. This is the famous church of St. Gregory, built in 1215, and is this structure in the best-preserved monument in the city.

I wish I remember the details of all we saw, but I don’t. We saw a lot of ruins this day!

Nathan and our guide Bengu. 

This is the Ani cathedral, which was an Armenian cathedral and one of the most significant structures in the city. It was under renovation, but since we were some of the only people in the city that day, our guide took us around the back where there was an open entrance to see this impressive structure.

Our guide Bengu. She studied history and went through the guide program in Turkey and was an endless source of information about the city. This cathedral began construction in 989 and completed in 1001, and it was amazing to see the images that still exist on the walls depicting the Bible.

This is the ravine that separates Turkey and Armenia. The two countries have had a very hostile and rocky past. There are no diplomatic relations and the borders closed between the two countries, but this border could not have been more peaceful. On the other side of the border, the Russian flag was flying right next to the Armenian flag. Though they are an independent country now since the fall of the USSR, Armenia is still very heavily under Russian control and influence.

We peered inside a small mosque overlooking the ravine, where apparently they still hold prayers from time to time.

The view was breathtaking!

More of Church of St. Gregory.

This was the Manuchihir mosque from around 1072, and the minaret is still intact and you can see the Arabic word ‘Bismillah’ (in the name of God) on the minaret.

This was a chapel overlooking the city.

Heading back to the city entrance, these are the city walls in the distance.

On the way back from Ani, we stopped by Lake Çıldır, a large freshwater lake near the borders of Armenia and Georgia. In the wintertime, the lake freezes over completely and people go sled dog riding across the lake!

We ended the evening with a delicious dinner of typical Kars foods and Assyrian wine. We at goose and hangel, which is like a large wonton with meat and juices inside, and a bunch of other things they brought out. We left with very full bellies.

Views from the streets.

Our final morning we went to the Caucus War Museum, before heading to the airport. 

We stopped downtown on the way back and walked back to the hotel. It was a rainy morning, and added to the bleakness of the city. It was neat the see the wedding entourage by the castle.

This sweet dog was always by our hotel and loved to be pet. Such a loyal old guy.

That was as wrap on Kars. It was a fascinating place to visit, and we are glad to have been able to see the sights! As we flew home on Sunday afternoon, Eliza was having her preschool graduation. Unfortunately we found out about it a couple of weeks before the date, and there was only one flight a day out of Kars to Ankara, so we missed her ceremony, but Kadem and family took the boys. Stay tuned for Eliza’s preschool graduation in the next blog…