The Deserted City of Ani
Ani, Turkey
April 20, 2009
Ani, Turkey
April 20, 2009
Ani has to be one of the most atmospheric sites in Turkey — which is ironic since it arguably doesn’t even belong in Turkey. Ani is the former capital of neighboring Armenia (the border is adjacent to the site) and reached it’s golden age around in the 11th Century AD as home to the Bagratid Dynasty who rule ancient Armenia and what is now Eastern Turkey. Sitting on the primary trade routes between Europe and the East, Ani flourished commercially and was said to have rivaled Constantinople and Cairo in it’s day.
Turkey is full of ruined cities but there’s something special about Ani. It’s a controversial site wrapped up in the strained relationship between the two countries that is centuries old itself. Armenia accuses Turkey of neglecting the site and performing amateurish and destructive renovations. I’m certainly no authority on such things but from my own observations it has the ring of truth. Ani isn’t a ruin. It’s a ghost town. Nevertheless, it’s a lovely ghost town.
There are only a dozen or so structures remaining and none in itself is a masterpiece. It’s the overall impression left by these abandoned relics dotting the windswept rolling plains of the Eastern Anatolian steppe that make them so melancholy and memorable.
