Ani is nowadays situated in Kars province of Turkey, on the right bank of Akhuryan River. It is surrounded in 1500m triangle cape by the small river Ani, Igadzor, Tsakhkotsadzor and Gayladzor. The etymology of Ani is connected with Ani fortess which was situated in Daranagh province of the Greater Armenia. Earlier it was a religious centre of Armenian pagans and was famous for its cemetery of kings. Ani castle belonged to Kamsarakans. During the most flourishing period, Ani had a population of 100.000 people. In 961 Bagratunis proclaimed Ani as a capital. During 963-964 the king Ashot the 3rd Voghormats built the first wall lines of the castle, which were called Ashotashen. Ani fell from the rule of Mongolians and devastating earthquake, after which only some modest settlements remained istead of the magnificent capital.
The Mother cathedral is the symbol of Ani, which is situated between the walls of Ashotashen and Smbatashen. The building began in 989-1001 by the king Smbat the 2nd and catholicos A.Arsharuni and finished by Gagik the 1st wife - queen Katranide. It was built by the architeck Trdat. The temple is dedicated to St. Astvatsatsin. It is bigger than the Mother Cathedral of Ejmiatsin. It is built by red, yellow and red tuf and decorated with thin beautiful arches and niches. It has 3 doors: for the Catholicos, for the king and for people. It had a very big silver cross. Here many kings and bishops ordained.
A small square is situated on the edge of a canyon. There is an amazingly beautiful church here. This is the St. Illuminator church. St. Honetsi church was decorated so beautifully that Turks used to call it Nakhsel kilise - a decorated church. It is a small copy of the Mother cathedral. Indoors the church has a good condition. The whole interior is decorated: the walls, the ceiling even the dome. Thanks to the saved Armenian writings on the the church, we can see the history of its building process in details. According to them the church St.Illuminator was built by local church philantropist Tigran Honetsi.
To the west of the Mother cathedral there is a lonely church standing, which will undoubtedly attract evereyone's attention. The church is mostly know for the reason that it survived and kept its structure.This is the church of St. Grigor Abughamrents, one of the most ancient churches in Ani. It's even older than the Mother Cathedral. Abughamrents does not have very impressive ornaments like the church of Honetsi. Instead you can see thin and delcate cornices arched doors and windows. It is not known when exactly it was built.
The bridge was built in 10-11 centuries, on the river Akhuryan.The road between the mosque of Manuche and the Mother Cathedral lead to the bridge, which is the biggest one here. According to the reconstructions of T. Toramanyan of the saved ruins, the bridge had 3 arches. It perfectly served for the protection of the city.
The walls of Ani stand proud, the same way as the builder of the walls - Smbat second Bagratuni. He built such a strong and powerful building, that after the process of the building finished, it was called after him as Smbatashen.
The walls of the city had two lines and the first line was much higher than the second line. They had 6-8 meters space between each other. It served as a strategic military method to fight against the enemies.