Frescoes and decorations

Some more details of this richly decorated church.









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Tigran Honents

On the sharp slope down towards the border river, the richly decorated church of Tigran Honents (apparently a rich man who built the church) lies.





Some amazing frescoes can still be seen both outside and inside!

Assorted bits and pieces

Here are some random shots of the site (otherwise I try to show pictures by building or by feature or somehow thematically - for clarity). Only, these don't really fit into such a scheme, but I still can't withhold them from you, so here goes!

The Church of the Redeemer

This ruined church finally fell when split in half by lightning during the 20th century. Before that it had stood for almost a thousand years. Isn't it odd, that?





The paintings are now very exposed to wind and rain, but you can still see some of the decorations.

Internet black holes

Just interrupting here to highlight the contents of a new link I've added to the righthand bar - Reporters without borders on Internet censorship. Read, learn and publish!

Revered fire

We tried to identify the remains of the Zoroastrian fire temple. Unfortunately, but perhaps hardly surprisingly, it is one of the least preserved houses of worship in Ani. We believe these were the ruins of the temple, but they weren't easily found.





Contrary to my romantic suppositions, it doesn't seem to have been fed by surface-oil wells, like the temple in Baku, either. Even if there is supposed to be oil exploration taking place in the Kars area...

Inside Ani

This is the Lion Gate we saw previously, now from the inside. The symbol depicted on the inside is deservedly disreputable today - but claimed to have an Indian origin, far from it's grim 20th century use. In the context of Ani (where the Silk Road came from the East and the Turkish, Persian and Russian spheres of influence met over the centuries, even if local rulers where often only nominal vassals of very varying degrees of loyalty to each of the empires in turn) it was said to be a Zoroastrian mark, the four arms representing the four revered elements of air, earth, water and fire.

Bordering Armenia

Yes, literally, this is the border river in a gorge beneath the site. You can make out the remains of a bridge also. The border is closed and only a few years ago, visiting Ani meant getting permission from local security authorities.



The next hill is Armenia! Returning to Kars after the visit, I had an Armenian phonenetwork for part of the time.



Ths was reported to be a (Russian?) military base and a stone quarry, both across the border, of course.





Actually, the years since the fall of the Soviet Union are the first in many centuries in which there is no direct Turkish-Russian border.

Entering Ani

Now I can't wait any longer to show you the marvelous medieval ruins of Ani, on the Armenian border.



This is the Lion Gate, from where you enter the site.





I may find more pictures from previously showed pictures later. Please bear with my slightly disorganized enthusiasm!

Buying carpets

Now I've shown you sooo many carpets - but here are two picture of us in the carpet shop, in the process of bargaining for the latest buy.





For once these are not pictures of my own, or even taken my husband, as the one's featuring me tend to be, but taken by a friend of ours.

Balcony views

Do you see that the things the absent balcony is supposed to lie on are bits of railway tracks?



Probably not... This is better!



Here you can still see a balcony, at least...

Restful

Tea-samovars and an armchair - does it get much better?

Houses in Kars

A selection of houses in central Kars:

Kars protocol

This train car - displayed next to the Kars Museum - was where the Russian Socialist Republic and representatives of the new nationalist forces which were later to govern Turkey wholly under Kemal Atatürk together signed the Kars Protocol in 1920. This protocol returned Kars from Russian to Turkish control.







It wasn't the first international agreement signed by Russia after the revolution but I do have an idea that it may be one of the earliest examples from Turkey of the incoming republican side entering into an international agreement... Anyway, neither side can have been particularly stable or unquestioned in their respective territories at the time. I wonder what their entering into this agreement may have meant for stabilizing future rule? Were they perhaps perceived as more stable entities by this ability/commitment, for instance?

Unfortunately, it wasn't possible to enter the car. Climbing up and peeking in, some photos seemed to be displayed inside, but maybe there wasn't much else to see.

Kars outlook

The Kars town-plan (and many buildings, as you will see later) are reminiscent of the years 1878-1920 when the town belonged to Russia.

Georgian apostles

The beautiful Drum-domed mosque in Kars was originally an orthodox church in the Georgian tradition.





Both it's interior and exterior were breathtaking, with many many tiny beautiful details adding to an awesome experience of visiting.

Bathhouse

There were a couple of really rundown hammams (16th century) at the foot of the castle hill. This one was probably beautiful at one time, but now very empty and with traces only of goats ever visiting!