Kars - Ani

Hi everyone! Today's post is about my last day on the tour, where we visited Ani, about 45km away from Kars, in the Northeast of Turkey (if you look on a map, we really covered a lot of territory). At one point Ani was a community that held almost 100,000 people, and most of the buildings were built by the Armenians and Selcuks. But by the 13th century, numerous invasions and earthquakes led people to abandon it, which leaves us today with a spooky, mysterious, and fascinating area to explore. I have a weakness for climbing all over ruins and this was a dream place for me, plus it was only me and Unluer so our time was flexible and we are both pretty fit so I think it was fun for both of us. If you just picked me up from Istanbul and dropped me at Ani, I wouldn't have any idea where I was - the landscape reminds me of Ireland or England, the gray sky, green hills and mountains, and rocks. Thinking back to all the different landscapes I've seen in the last 11 days, I'm pretty amazed I've only been in one country!



You can see the specks of some of the buildings off in the distance.





This building was struck by lightening.



A close up of the ruins, you can see the pile of rubble and some writing on what probably used to be the wall.


A hamam, probably contributed by the Seljuk Turks - cleanliness is really important in Islam.




A well preserved church





I feel in love with this cathedral. When we walked in it my jaw fell down and my eyes watered up. It was so magnificent and so intact and huge - I wish I could have captured it.



That's me up in the alter area, to help give an idea of the size.



Massive columns



The Silk Road used to pass right through here, there's part of a bridge that they used to use. Also, that's Armenia right there! It was only until the last few years that people have been even able to visit Ani, and very recently be able to take pictures.


It's not often you get both a mosque and a church in the same picture. Pretty much the only buildings still standing are churches and a mosque. All of the houses are just piles of rocks. Divine intervention? Or just sturdier building methods?



Just the remnants of a wall.



Cows grazing.

Well that concludes my trip to Southeastern and Eastern Turkey! For those of you that stuck in there and followed me, I can't thank you enough. I can't tell you how fun it is for me to go through my day, think about what pictures to take and what to write about, I really do look forward to it. I will be posting some food pictures soon from Antalya, and if I can take my eyes out of a book or away from the view I'll snap some pictures in Kas. On Tuesday I head back to Istanbul where I have to remember where I live and how to teach. Eek wish me luck! Life is good!