Just inside the Ani ruins is the sturdy Arslan Kapısı (or Aslan Kapısı – Lion Gate). Depending on which guide you believe, it was named after Alp Arslan, the Seljuk sultan who conquered Ani in 1064, or for the aslan (lion) relief on the wall inside.
The ticket booth for the Ani ruins is between the main sections of the gateway.
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The ruins of Ani, 45km east of Kars, are an absolute must-see. Visitors enter through gigantic fortress walls that look like they fell off a crusader…
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Appealingly sited overlooking a stretch of river gorge, this 13th-century church appears relatively intact, though the current main door is within what…
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Dating from at least 1153, Kars Castle' s hefty, dark-stone walls crown the craggy ridge that dominates the city-centre's northern edge, fronted by a…
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Completed in 1010, the grassy-roofed cathedral is the largest building among the Ani ruins. The building's elegantly finished stone walls are relatively…
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Ani's 1072 Manuçehr Camii was built by the Seljuk Turks, using Armenian architects and artisans, creating a stylistic blend in what is considered to have…
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Marmashen’s location deep in a river valley 10km northwest of Gyumri is unusual – medieval monasteries in Armenia were almost always constructed in…
Museum of the Aslamazyan Sisters
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Artists Mariam (1907–2006) and Yeranuhi (1910–98) Aslamazyan were born in Bash-Shirak village near Gyumri and two floors of this handsome 19th-century…
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Once the summer residence of the Catholicos of Etchmiadzin, the still-functioning Harichavank is located in the old town of Harich, about 4km from the…
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The ruins of Ani, 45km east of Kars, are an absolute must-see. Visitors enter through gigantic fortress walls that look like they fell off a crusader…
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This ruined temple is thought to have been built in the 4th century AD, during a period of Sassanian influence from Persia. It might have been converted…
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The Church of the Holy Apostles (Arak Elots Kilisesi) dates from 1031, but after the Seljuks took the city in 1064 they added a gateway with a fine dome…
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Even though the ruins of this once-enormous church are little more than its circular base and a jumble of column sections within, it is enough to grasp…
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The most substantial remnant of this 11th-century mosque is its minaret, now lying on its side with the spiral stairs inside clearly visible. It was…
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Built into the western tip of Ani's defensive walls, this rectilinear palace has been so painstakingly over-restored that it looks quite out of place,…
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Dozens of caves cut into in the cliff-like sides of Ani Plateau were made into chapels and hermit cells. The most easily accessible is this partly…
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A well-preserved central landmark in the heart of the Ani plateau, this rotunda-shaped church with a conical roof was built in about 980 for the wealthy…