Ani (Kars) revisited

this note was waiting to be published for the longest time.I have visited the ancient city of Ani (Kars) in eastern Turkey a few weeks ago. it was said the city of dreams by many friends and authors that have visited the city before. seeing it the first time, I say they were right.

it was winter by climate but there were no snow, very unlike Ani they say in december. but aside from that fact, the city was really up to its fame, a crossroads of many cultures: armenian by origin, ornamented by greek, russian and shiite tradition, Ani was full of history and pictures of today's poverty.

large streets and mansions built in the recent russian era dating back to early 20th century. large streets full of ghosts. ghosts of a long forgotten past, when big banquets were shining on the nights of their hosts, rich tradesman benefiting from their location on the silk road. russian era highlighted the city as a trade and resort town.

but the tragic era of the town is just before that. when with the armenians, structures like St. Apostle's Church went into the dark corners of history. The church dating back to late 10th century was an early architectural gem of near east.

today, in the long streches of solitudes we may call streets, one may witness the bitterness of history, how bitter it treated the city-dwellers of today, how it reminds them eveyday the deeds of their ancestors. vast emptiness and rude winds play hide and seek around the thin coats of children playing on the streets for they have nothing else to turn to.

the russian tradition lingers on though. today's Kars is the only city in the area where one can still find a pub open to have a beer every night, have a friendly chat and talk endlessly about politics, economics and failure. today's population of turks, kurds and azeri's, mostly people moved in from neighboring regions as the turkish population moved out to metropolitan turkey, live in basic harmony with spontanous unrest among them due to religious or political preferences.

but one has to wait for snow in Ani. without it it bears no anchor to reality. one has to go back. one has to wait for snow to clean it all.

ps. for those who wants to be informed on the subject and a vast collection of pictures, visit Virtual Ani or for a modern reference; Kars in Wikipedia; Kars in All About Turkey