Turkey: Ani ancient city St George church

If you travel to northeast of Turkey, be sure that you don’t miss Ani ancient city as it’s a very beautiful, unique and historically important place. Ani is located 42 km from the city of Kars, on a secluded triangular plateau overlooking a ravine that forms the natural border with Armenia. The continuity of settlement at Ani for almost 2500 years was thanks to its geographical location, on an easily defensible plateau that was surrounded by fertile river valleys at an important gate of the Silk Roads into Anatolia. The most well preserved here is the church of Saint George which was finished in 1215.The exterior of the church is spectacularly decorated. Ornate stone carvings of real and imaginary animals fill the spandrels between blind arcade that runs around all four sides of the church. The interior contains an important and unique series of frescoes cycles that depict two main themes. In the eastern third of the church is depicted the Life of Saint Gregory the Illuminator, in the middle third of the church is depicted the Life of Christ. #turkey #kars #trip #ancient city