Mayraqaghaq

[Ashot]

Armavir (Արմավիր) is a city located in western Armenia. The 1989 census reported that the city had a total population of 46,900, but this has declined considerably: the 2001 census counted 32,034; estimate for 2008 is 26,387. It is the capital of the Armavir province (marz). The city of Armavir in Russia, founded by Armenians in the 19th century, was named after this city. The city was known as Hoktemberyan, Hoktemberian, or Oktemberyan Armenian: Հոկտեմբերյան during the Soviet era up to 1992, and Sardarabad, Sardarapat or Sardar-Apad before 1932.

 

Antiquity

Armavir was inhabited from the 5th-6th millennium B.C. onwards. Various obsidian instruments, bronze objects and pottery have been found from that period. Armavir was regarded as an old capital of Armenia, said to have been founded by King Aramais in 1980 B.C. King Argishti I of Urartu built a fortress in the area and named it Argishtikhinili. In 331 B.C., when Armenia reasserted its independence under the Orontid Dynasty from the Achaemenid Empire, Armavir was chosen as the capital of Armenia. Slabs of clay have been found from the Achaemenid period written in the Elamite language concerning episodes of the Gilgamesh epic. Various inscriptions in Hellenistic Greek carved around the third century B.C., include poetry from Hesiod, lines from Euripides, a list of Macedonian months, and names of Orontid Kings.

 

According to the Armenian historian Movses Khorenatsi (fifth century A.D.), Armavir was the first capital of the kingdom of Armenia (although, from a geographical standpoint, the first capital of Armenia was Van). Movses has preserved the tradition that when King Vagharshak the Parthian settled in Armavir (ca. 149 B.C.), he built a temple there and asked his royal coronant and aspet (knight) Shambu Bagarat (Bagratuni), to give up his religion and worship idols. But Shambu refused to comply. Movses also relates that when King Tigranes II (whom he places on the throne from 90-36 B.C.), in order to take revenge on Queen Cleopatra of Egypt, sent an expedition to Palestine, he carried a great number of Jews into captivity, and settled them in Armavir and in Vardges. Movses goes on to state that later Jews were transferred from Armavir to Yervandashat; and under King Artashes I, were again transferred into the new capital Artashat. When King Sapor II of Persia invaded Armenia (360-370 A.D.), he led away from Artashat 30,000 Armenian and 9,000 Jewish families, the latter brought by King Tigranes from Palestine, and then completely destroyed the city.

 

During Antiquity, Armavir was taken by the Seleucids, Parthians, Roman Empire, Sassanids and Byzantine Empire before it was taken over by the Arabs in 645.

 

Medieval Armavir

Arabic sovereignty lasted until the first quarter of the ninth century. The Sajids managed this region in the 9th century. After that, the Georgian Bagrationi Dynasty managed this region. The Byzantine Empire reconquered this region in 1045 but this region passed to Seljuk Turks in 1064, who renamed the city Sardarabad. This region was passed among Georgians and Armenians, Eldiguzids and Khwarezmid Empire after Seljuk's decline. Mongols captured this region in 1239 and founded Ilkhanid state in 1256. This region was passed to Chupanids in 1353, Jalayirids in 1357 and Kara Koyunlu in 1388. Tamerlane captured this region in 1400. Qara Yusuf retook this region in 1407 from Timurid Empire. However Shah Rukh who was Timurid ruler captured this region in 1421 and in 1429. Jahan Shah who was Kara Koyunlu ruler captured it in 1447.

 

Ottoman-Persian rule

Kara Koyunlu's sovereignty lasted until Uzun Hasan, ruler of Ak Koyunlu, conquered it in 1468. Ak Koyunlu's sovereignty lasted until 1501, Ismail I's conquest. Ismail I was founder of Safavid Dynasty. This region was temporarily occupied by Ottoman Empire in 1514, in 1534, in 1548 and in 1553. It was then conquered by Ottoman Empire in 1585 but retaken by Abbas I of Persia who was Safavid ruler in 1603. It was occupied by Ottomans between 1635–1636 and 1724–1736. At the fall of the Safavid Empire, Armavir became part of the Erivan Khanate.

 

Russian rule

The Russo-Persian War (1826-1828) began due to Persians' demand to reconquer the territories lost to Russia between 1804 and 1813. At first, the Persians repulsed the Russians from the South Caucasus in 1826. However, Russian general and commander of the Russian army, Ivan Paskevich, reconquered the South Caucasus and extended its territories to include the Erivan Khanate in 1827.

 

This region formally passed from Persian sovereignty to a Russian after the Treaty of Turkmenchay in 1828. Armavir became the Serdarabad uyezd of the Armenian Oblast, which itself became the Erivan guberniya in 1840. This situation lasted until the February Revolution in 1917.

 

1917 revolutions and Armenian-Ottoman War

After the February Revolution, the region was under the authority of Special Transcaucasian Committee of the Russian Provisional Government and subsequently the short-lived Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic. When the TDFR was dissolved in May 1918, this region passed to Democratic Republic of Armenia, having a conspicuous role in Armenian history due to Battle of Sardarapat. There, the Armenian forces staved off extermination and repulsed the Ottoman Army whose campaign in the Caucasus was aimed at occupying Yerevan.

 

However, the Ottomans did occupy most of the Erivan Governorate, forcing the Armenians to sign the Treaty of Batum in June 1918. The Ottoman Army retreated after signing Armistice of Mudros at the end of 1918 and so Sardarapat returned to Democratic Republic of Armenia in November 1918.

 

Soviet Armavir

The Soviet Union's 11th Red Army invaded the republic on 29 November 1920. The Soviets took Yerevan 4 December 1920 after the signing of Treaty of Alexandropol. This treaty was replaced by Treaty of Kars. The Soviets proclaimed Armenian a Soviet Socialist Republic under the leadership of Aleksandr Miasnikyan. It was to be included into the newly created Transcaucasian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic in 1922.

 

The modern city of Armavir was founded by the Soviet government on 26 July 1931 and called Sardarapat. In 1935, the name of the city was changed from Sardarapat to Hoktemberyan (also known as Oktemberyan).

 

Two years after Armenia declared independence from the USSR, in 1992, the name of the city was reverted back to Armavir.

 

Sports

FC Armavir was the football club who represented the city during th Soviet years. It was founded in 1965 as FC Sevan Hoktemberian Armavir. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, FC Armavir participated in the Armenian Leagues mainly throughout the 1990's. Since 2003, the club has not been playing professional football and is currently inactive. The club used to play its matches in the "Hobelyanakan Stadium of Armavir" (Jubilee Stadium) with a capacity of 10,000 spectators. Nowadays, the stadium serves the youth teams of Armavir football school.

 

The city has a chess-training school as well, for the children.

Edited January 16, 2011 by Ashot

[Ashot]

Yervandashat (Երվանդաշատ) is a village in the Armavir Province of Armenia. The village has a ruined basilica dated to the 4th or 5th century and the Saint Shushanik church of the 10th to 17th century. Along the main highway leading to and from the area are khachkar monuments.

 

Ancient Yervandashat

Just outside of the modern village are the ruins of ancient Yervandashat, a city founded by King Orontes IV (the last of the Orontid dynasty, in the 3rd century BCE. The ancient town sits upon an escarpment overlooking the junction of the Arax River and Akhurian River. According to Movses Kagankatvatsi, Orontes founded Yervandashat to replace Armavir as his capital after Armavir had been left dry by a shift of the Arax. The archaeological site has not been subject of major research, but preliminarily, the fortifications and some remains of palaces have been uncovered.

 

Ancient Yervandashat was destroyed by the army of the Persian King Shapur II in the 360s.

[Ashot]

Artashat (Արտաշատ) is a city on Araks River in the Ararat valley, 30 km southeast of Yerevan. Being one of the oldest cities of Armenia, Artashat is the capital of Ararat Province. Modern Artashat is situated on the Yerevan-Nakhichevan-Baku and Nakhichevan-Tabriz railway and on Yerevan-Goris-Stepanakert highnway. The name of the city is derived from Iranian languages and means the "joy of Arta". Founded by King Artashes I in 176 BC, Artashat served as the capital of the Kingdom of Armenia from 185 BC until 120 AD, and was known as the "Vostan Hayots" or "court" or "seal of the Armenians." Present-day Artashat is mid-sized city and has a population of 25,300 people. It is located 5 km northwest from historical Artashat. Currently, the town is developing gradually.

 

History

King Artashes I founded Artashat in 185 BC in the region of Vostan within the historical province of Ayrarat, at the point where Araks river was joined by Metsamor river during that ancient eras, near the heights of Khor Virap. The story of the foundation is given by the Armenian historian Movses Khorenatsi of the fifth century: "Artashes traveled to the location of the confluence of the Yeraskh and Metsamor [rivers] and taking a liking to the position of the hills [adjacent to Mount Ararat], he chose it as the location of his new city, naming it after himself." According to the accounts given by Greek historians Plutarch and Strabo, Artashat is said to have been chosen and developed on the advice of the Carthaginian general Hannibal:

 

However, modern historians argue that there is no direct evidence to support the above mentioned passage. Some sources have also indicated that Artashes built his city upon the remains of an old Urartian settlement. Strabo and Plutarch describe Artashat as a large and beautiful city and call it the "Armenian Carthage". A focal point of Hellenistic culture, Armenia's first theatre was built here.[1] Movses Khorenatsi points that in addition to numerous copper pagan statues of the gods and goddesses of Anahit, Artemis and Tir brought from the religious centre of Bagaran and other regions to the city, Jews from the former Armenian capital of Armavir were relocated to Artashat. View of mount Ararat from Khor Virap. The hill where the church was built, is the location of ancient Artashat.

 

Artashes also built a citadel (which was later named Khor Virap and gained prominence as the location where Gregory the Illuminator was to be imprisoned by Trdat the Great) and added other fortifications, including a moat. The city's strategic position in Araks valley on the silk road, soon made Artashat a centre of bustling economic activity and thriving international trade, linking Persia and Mesopotamia with the Caucasus and Asia Minor. Its economic wealth can be gauged in the numerous bathhouses, markets, workshops administrative buildings that sprang up during the reign of Artashes I. The city had its own treasury and customs. The ampithetare of Artashat was built during the reign of king Artavazd II (55-34 BC). The remains of the huge walls surrounding the city built by King Artashes I could be found in the area.

 

Wars against Romans and Persians

During the reign of Tigranes II, the Armenian kingdom expanded and conquered many territories in the south and west, ultimately reaching the Mediterranean Sea. Due to the remoteness of Artashat in the greater context of the empire, Tigranes built a new capital called Tigranakert. However, in 69 the Roman general Lucullus invaded Armenia, defeated Tigranes' forces at the outskirts of Tigranakert, and sacked the capital itself. As Roman forces continued to move northeast in pursuit of the Armenian king, a second prominent battle took place, this time at Artashat where Tigranes II was defeated once again. Artashat was restored as capital of Armenia in 60.

 

However, the city remained a hotly contested military target for the next two centuries. It was occupied by Capadocian legions under the Roman general Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo, who razed it to the ground in 59 AD as part of the first short-lived Roman conquest of Armenia. After Emperor Nero recognized Tiridates I as king of Armenia in 66, he granted him 50 million sesterces and sent architects and construction experts to help in the reconstruction of the ruined city. The city was temporarily renamed Neronia, in the honor of Nero.

 

Artashat remained the capital of Armenia until 120 when it was moved to Vagharshapat during the reign of Vagharshak I (117-140). After the death of king Vagharshak I, the Romans led by Statius Priscus invaded Armenia and destroyed Artashat in 162. Archaeological excavations conducted during the Soviet era uncovered a Latin inscription of the full titles of the Emperor Trajan that was probably inscribed upon the governor's palace dating back to the first quarter of the second century. Artashat remained one of the principal political and cultural centres of Armenia until 369 when it was thoroughly destroyed by the Persian invaders led by king Shapur II.

 

In 449, prior to the Battle of Avarayr, the city was the venue of what to become known as the "Artashat Council" where the political and religious leaders of Armenia gathered to discuss the threatens of the Persian king Yazdegerd II.

 

However, after losing its status as a capital to Vagharshapat and Dvin respectively, Artashat gradually lost its significance. The exact location of old Artashat was defined during the 1920s, but the archeological excavations started only in 1970.

 

Soviet Artashat

The modern city of Artashat (adjacent to the old city) was known as Upper Ghamarlu, also Romanized as Kamarlyu, Kamarlu, and Kemerli until 1945. Artashat was given the status of urban community in 1962.

 

Education and culture

Nowadays, the cultural life of Artashat is enhancing with the presence of several cultural institutions. The city has a cultural palace, an art centre named after Charles Aznavour and a dramatic theatre named after Amo Kharazyan.

 

There are 6 public education schools, 9 kindergartens, 1 musical, 1 art and 1 sports school in Artahsat, as well as a local TV station and a number of local newspapers. The musucal school which is named after Alexander Melik *****ev is operating since 1956.

 

One of the Human Rights Library Network (HRLN) libraries of the Armenian Constitutional Right-Protective Centre (ACRPC) is located in Artashat.

 

In 2004, a new amusement park was inaugurated in the centre of Artashat, which is used to host public celebrations, concerts and musical shows at nights.

 

Recently, within the framework of events dedicated to the 1600th anniversary of the invention of the Armenian alphabet, a symposium took place in Artashat, during which participant sculptors from all over Armenia and the diaspora created many cultural monuments in the centre of Artashat, working on it nearly a month and a half. In the centre of the city one can also see the buildings of Ararat province's administration and the city hall and the monument of King Artashes, the founder of Artashat.

 

The new church of Surb Hovhannes is currently under construction since 2000 with many interruptions, therefore it is expected to be finished in 2012. In September 2009 a dome-blessing ceremony was conducted by the supreme Catholicos of all Armenians, where crosses were placed on the top of the domes.

 

Theatre in Artashat

Artashat is the venue of the first ever theatre show performed in the history of Armenia. King Artavazd II (55-34 BC) managed to stage and direct The Bacchae of Euripides on Artashat amphitheatre in 53 BC with the presence of king Orodes II of Parthia.

 

During the last 15 years, the dramatic theatre of Artashat named after Amo Kharazyan, has performed not only Armenian national classics and modern creations, but also world masterpieces of dramatic art and works devoted to the Armenian Genocide. It will soon be performed for French audiences as well.

 

Industry

Artashat has several industrial sectors. During the last decades many factories which produce alcoholic drinks, canned foods, dairy products, building materials and textile were opened in the city and the surrounding area.

 

After some difficulties during the economical crisis of the 1990s in Armenia, many firms in Artashat overcame the situations and began to introduce their products in the domestic and international markets.

 

The Artashat Cannery is supplied with modern technology, while the Artashat Winery which was opened in 1995 is considered to be one of the most developed factories in Armenia. The products of the winery are mainly exported to Russia and other CIS countries. The Porcelain Factory of Artashat is one of the main suppliers of building materials in the Armenian market and the only one in the Republic which produces porcelain tiles.

 

Sports

Artashat has a football stadium where many competitions and championships for toung football teams are held. Dvin Artashat which was founded in 1982 as Olimpia Artashat was the only football club in the city. After the 1999 Armenian Premier League season, the club disbanded and is currently inactive from professional football.

[Ashot]

Tigranakert (Տիգրանակերտ) was a city possibly located near present-day Silvan, Turkey, east of Diyarbakır. It was founded by the Armenian Emperor Tigranes the Great in the 1st century BC. Tigranakert was founded as the new capital of the Armenian Empire in order to be in a more central position within the boundaries of the expanding empire. It was one of four cities in Armenia named Tigranakert.

 

To create this city, Tigranes forced many people out of their homes to make up the population. Armenia at this time had expanded east to the Caspian Sea, west to central Cappadocia, and south towards Judea, advancing as far as the regions surrounding what is now the Krak des Chevaliers. A Roman force under Lucius Lucullus defeated Tigranes at the Battle of Tigranocerta nearby in 69 BC, and afterwards sacked the city, sending many of the people back to their original homes. During Pompey the Great's 'conquests of the east', Tigranakert was retaken briefly by Rome, but was lost when Tigranes the Great was given parts of his kingdom back after his initial surrender to Pompey for the cost of 6,000 talents (an indemnity paid to Rome over an uncertain period). It was again taken by the Romans when Corbulo, a Roman legate (head of a legion), defeated Tiridates during the Armenian rebellion of 64 AD. During the Ottoman period, Armenians who lived in Diyarbekir referred to their city as "Dikranagerd" and themselves as "Dikranagerdtsi". In reality, the location of ancient Tigranakert is still debated, but it is unlikely to be Diyarbekir, a city called Amida in later antiquity.

 

History

The city's markets were filled with traders and merchants doing business from all over the ancient world. Tigranakert quickly became a very important commercial, as well as cultural center of the Near East. The magnificent theater that was established by the Emperor, of which he was an avid devotee, conducted dramas and comedies mostly played by Greek as well as Armenian actors. Plutarch wrote (Lucull. 26.2) that Tigranakert was "a rich and beautiful city where every common man and every man of rank studied to adorn it." The Hellenistic culture during the Artaxiad Dynasty had a strong influence and the Greek language was in fact the official language of the court. Tigranes had divided Greater Armenia -- the nucleus of the Empire -- into four major strategic regions or viceroyalties. After the plunder, which included the destruction of statues and temples, the city was set ablaze. An abundant quantity of gold and silver was carried off to Rome as war booty. Lucullus took most of the gold and silver from the melted-down statues, pots, cups and other valuable metals and precious stones. During the pillage most of the city's inhabitants simply fled to the countryside. The newly established theater building was also destroyed in the fire. The great city would never recover from this devastating destruction.

[Ashot]

Vagharshapat (Վաղարշապատ) is the fourth largest city in Armenia and the spiritual centre of the Armenians being the seat of the Catholicos of All Armenians, the head of the Holy Armenian Apostolic Church. It is the most populous city in Armavir province, located about 18 km west of Yerevan, 25 km east of the regional centre of Armavir only 10 km north of the Armenia-Turkish borderline. The 1989 census counted the population of Ejmiatsin as 61,000; it has declined considerably since: 58,388 in the 2001 census, and an estimated 56,757 in 2008.

 

Geography

Ejmiatsin is the biggest satellite city of Yerevan and the 4th largest in Armenia, very close to Zvartnots International Airport. It is located in Eastern Armenia to the center-west of the country in the north-eastern extremity of Ararat Valley, in Kasagh River basin. Historically, Vagharshapat is situated at the heart of the Armenian Highland, in Aragatsotn canton (Armenian: Արագածոտն գաւառ Aragatsotn gavar, not to be confused with the current Aragatsotn Province) of Ayrarat province, within Armenia Major. The city has an average elevation of 853 meters above sea level with a dry continental climate.

 

History

The territory of ancient Vagharshapat and the surrounding areas since the 3rd millanium BC. Many sites such as Metsamor, Shresh hill and Mokhrablur date back to the neolithic period. The first written records about Vagharshapat were found in the inscriptions left by the Araratian king Rusa II (685-645 BC), where it was mentioned as the Valley of Kuarliny. According to Movses Khorenatsi, the oldest name of Vagharshapat was probably Artemid derived from the ancinet Greek deity "Artemis", then it was called Avan Vardgesi (Town of Vrdges) or Vardgesavan (Վարդգէսաւան) when it was replenished by prince Vardges, during the reign of king Orontes I Sakavakyats of Armenia (570-560 BC).

 

In the first half of the 1st century, during the reign of the Armenian Arshakuni king Vaghasrh I (117-144), the old town of Vardgesavan was renovated and renamed Vaghasrhapat (Վաղարշապատ) -which still persists as the official appellation of the city-. The original name, as preserved by Byzantine historian; Procopius ("Persian Wars"), was Valashabad -"Valash/Balash city" named after king Balash/Valash/Valarsh of Armenia-. The name evolved into its later form by the shift in the medial L into a Gh, which is common in Armenian language.

 

Khorenatsi mentions that the town of Vardges was toatlly rebuilt and fenced by Vagharsh I to become known as Noarakaghak (The New City) or Vagharshapat.

 

The city has served as a capital for the Ashakuni Kingdom of Armenia between 120-330 AD and remained the country's most important city until the end of the 4th century AD. When Christianity became the state religion of Armenia, Vagharshapat was time by time called Ejmiatsin after the name of the Mother Cathedral. Starting from 301, the city has become the spiritual centre of all the Armenian nation, being the home of the Armenian Catholicosate, one of the oldest religious organisations in the world.

 

It is noteworthy that Vagharshapat was home to one of the oldest schools established by Saint Mashtots and the home of the first manuscripts library in Armenia founded in 480 AD.

 

Starting from the 6th century, the city had lost its importance -especially after the transfer of the seat of the Catholicosate to Dvin in 452- until the foundation of the Bagratuni Kingdom of Armenia in 885. After the fall of the Bagratuni dynasty in 1045, the city gradually became an insignificant place until 1441 when the seat of the Armenian Catholicosate was transferred from the Cilician town of Sis back to Etchmiadzin.

 

During the Turkic rules, the city was called Uchkilisa (Üçkilise, "Three churches" in Turkish language).

 

The archeological site of ancient Vagharshapat

According to Movses Khorenatsi's History of Armenia and as a result of several archeological researches conducted in the area, the most probable location of the ancient city of Vagharshapat is the area of Shresh Hill near Kasagh River.

 

Shresh Hill -or the Kond of Ghugo as it was called by the local population- is located 500 meters north-east of the current city of Ejmiatsin, on the way to Oshakan. This artificial hill of 123 meters diameter, was first excavated in 1870. In 1913 and 1928, the area was excavated by archeologist Yervand Lalayan. Large-scale excavations were conducted in Shresh Hill and the nearby sites of Metsamor and Mokhrablur between 1945-1950.

 

Etchmiadzin Cathedral and the Mother See complex

Historically, the focal point of the city is the Mother Cathedral of Holy Etchmiadzin, one of the oldest churches in the world. It was originally built by Saint Gregory the Illuminator as a vaulted basilica in 301-303, when Armenia has adopted Christianity as a state religion (the first in world history). The church was enlarged time by time, mainly in 480, 618 and 1658.

 

The Mother Cathedral is surrounded with many structures and old khachkars built in several times throughout the centuries. Most buildings are of great architectural values such as the old and new Pontifical Residences, the Chancellery or the Divanatoon, the Gate of King Trdat, Alex and Marie Manoogian Treasury, Khrimian Museum, Yeremian Monastic cells, the old Seminary building, the Clock Tower, the Bookstore, etc.

 

Gevorkian Seminary is a theological school-college of the Armenian Apostolic Church founded by Catholicos Gevork IV in 1874.

 

Saint Hripsime, Saint Gayane and Shoghakat Churches

Apart from the Mother Cathedral, Vagharshapat contains three other important Armenian churches:

 

* Saint Hripsime Church, built in 618 and survives basically unchanged. It is considered as one of the oldest surviving churches in Armenia, known for its fine Armenian architecture of the classical period, which influenced many other Armenian churches. The church was erected in 618 by Catholicos Gomidas atop the original mausoleum built by Catholicos Sahak the Great in 395 that contained the remains of the martyred Saint Hripsimé.

 

* Saint Gayane Church, built in 630 by Catholicos Ezra I, distinguished by its harmonious proportions. Its design remained unchanged despite partial renovations of the dome and some ceilings in 1652.

 

* Shoghakat Church -means the drop of light-, is a domed single nave basilica, completed in 1694 by prince Aghamal Sorotetsi during the time of Catholicos Nahabed I. The church which is built with red and black tufa stones, was erected on the remains of a 6th century basilica. Adjacent to Shoghakat, the remains of a 5th century small chapel could be found.

 

Zvartnots Cathedra

Zvartnots is a ruined 7th century circular Armenian cathedral built by the order of Catholicos Nerses III the Builder in 641-653, located at the eastern edge of current Vagharshapat.

 

Zvartnots was a majestic cathedral famous for its unique design, dedicated to Saint George, built at the place where a meeting between king Tiridates III and Saint Gregory the Illuminator was supposed to have taken place.

 

In 930 AD, the church was ruined by an earthquake, and remained buried until its rediscovery in the early 20th century. The site was excavated between 1900 and 1907, uncovering the foundations of the cathedral as well as the remains of the Pontifical palace and a winery. The interior of the fresco-decorated church had the shape of a Greek cross with three aisles, while the exterior was a 32-sided polygon which appeared circular from a distance.

 

The Cathedral of Etchmiadzin, the Churches of Saint Hripsime, Saint Gayane and Shoghakat, and the Archaeological Site of Zvartnots are listed among the UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

 

Education and sports

Gevorkian Theological Seminary is one of the most famous educational institutions of the Republic of Armenia. Other educational institutions include "Grigor Lusavorich" University and the state intermediate college of vocational education. There are 14 public education schools, 8 kindergartens and 2 musical schools operating in the city.

 

Vagharshapat Echmiadzin was the city's only football club who made its debut in the Armenian Premier League as Zvartnots Echmiadzin in 1992. Unfortunately, the club was dissolved in early 2006 and is currently inactive from professional football.

 

The "Ejmiatsin Day" is celebrated on 8 October of every year since 2008. According to tradition, Mesrop Mashtots brought the newly created Armenian alphabet to Vagharshapat on 8 October 405.

[Ashot]

Dvin (Դվին) was a large commercial city and the capital of early medieval Armenia. It was situated north of the previous ancient capital of Armenia, the city of Artaxata, along the banks of the Metsamor River, 35 km to the south of modern Yerevan. The site of the ancient city is currently not much more than a large hill located between modern Hnaberd (just off the main road through Hnaberd) and Verin Dvin, Armenia. Systematic excavations at Dvin have proceeded since 1937 and have produced an abundance of materials that have shed light into the Armenian culture of the 5th to the 13th centuries.

 

Name

Ancient Armenian literary sources almost always give the name of the ancient city of Dvin as Dwin or Duin. Later authors favored the Dvin appellation, which is the most common form given in scholarly literature.

 

History

The ancient city of Dvin was built by Chosroes III of Armenia in 335 on a site of an ancient settlement and fortress from the third millennium B.C. Since then the city had been used as the primary residence of the Armenian Kings of the Arshakuni Dynasty. Dvin boasted a population of about 100,000 citizens who were in various professions including arts and crafts, trade, fishing, etc.

 

After the fall of the Armenian Kingdom in 428, Dvin became the residence of Sassanid appointed marzpans (governors), Byzantine kouropalates and later Umayyad and Abbasid appointed ostikans (governors), all of whom were of senior nakharar stock. In 640 Dvin was the center of the emirate of Arminia.

 

Under Arshakuni rule, Dvin prospered as one of the most populous and wealthiest cities east of Constantinople. Its welfare continued even after the partition of Armenia between Romans and Sassanid Persians and eventually became a target during the height of the Arab invasions. According to Sebeos and Catholicos John V the Historian, Dvin was captured in 640 during the reign of Constans II and Catholicos Ezra. The Arabs called the city Dabil.

 

Despite the fact that Dvin, was a battleground between Arabs and Byzantine forces for the next two centuries, in the 9th century it was still a flourishing city. Frequent earthquakes and continued Arab oppression led to the decline of the city in the beginning of the 10th century. During a major earthquake in 893, the city was destroyed along with most of its 70,000 inhabitants.

 

The Byzantines conquered Armenia along with Dvin in 1045 from the Bagratunis. In 1064 the Seljuks occupied the city. The Kurdish Shaddadids ruled the city as Seljuk vassals from then on until the Georgian King George III conquered the city in 1173. In 1201-1203 during the reign of Queen Tamar the city was again under Georgian rule. In 1236 the city was completely destroyed by Mongols.

 

Dvin was the birthplace of Najm ad-Din Ayyub and Asad ad-Din Shirkuh bin Shadhi, Kurdish generals in the service of the Seljuks; Najm ad-Din Ayyub's son Saladin was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Saladin was born in Tikrit, Iraq, but his family had originated from the ancient city of Dvin.

 

Cathedral of S. Grigor

Situated in the central square of the ancient city was the Cathedral of S. Grigor. It was originally constructed in the 3rd century as triple-nave pagan temple with seven pairs of interior structural supports. The temple was rebuilt in the 4th century as a Christian church, with a pentahedral apse that protruded sharply on its eastern side. In the middle of the 5th century, an exterior arched gallery was added to the existing structure. At the time that the cathedral was built, it was the largest in Armenia and measured 30.41 meters by 58.17 meters.

 

Ornate decorations adorned the interior and the exterior of the building. The capitals of the columns were decorated with fern-like relief, while the cornices were carved in the design of three interlaced strands. The interior floor of the structure was made up of mosaic multi-colored soft-toned slabs in a geometric pattern, while the floor of the apse was decorated in the 7th century with a mosaic of smaller stone tiles representing the Holy Virgin. It is the most ancient mosaic depiction of her in Armenia.

 

By the middle of the 7th century, the cathedral was rebuilt into a cruciform domed church with apses that protruded off of its lateral facades. All that remains of the cathedral today are the stone foundations uncovered during archaeological excavations in the 20th century.

[Ashot]

Bagaran (Բագարան) is a town and former fortress in the Armavir Province of Armenia, located 5 kilometers west of the right bank of the Akhurian River, and formerly a capital of Armenia.

 

Bagaran was founded at the end of the 3rd century BCE by the Armenian King Orontes II (212 BCE - 200 BCE).

 

I will try to find more info and update it later! Primarily Armavir Province should explain most about the region.

[Ashot]

Shirakavan (Շիրակավան) also known by the name Yerazgavors was a medieval Armenian town that, during the 9th century AD, served as the capital for the Bagratid kingdom of Armenia. The settlement had declined into a small village by the end of the 19th century, and the site (which now lies within Turkish territory) may have been flooded by the waters of a dam built on the Akhurian River. Edited January 16, 2011 by Ashot

[Ashot]

Kars (Կարս, Ղարս) As Chorzene, the town appears in Roman historiography (Strabo) as part of ancient Armenia. For the etymological origin of the name "Kars", some sources claim it is derived from the Georgian word ("kari"), meaning "the gate" while other sources claim it is from the Armenian word հարս ("hars") which means bride.

 

Medieval period

Little is known of the early history of Kars beyond the fact that it had its own dynasty of Armenian rulers and was the capital of a region known as Vanand. Medieval Armenian historians referred to the city by a variety of names, including "Karuts' K'aghak'" (Kars city), "Karuts' Berd", "Amrots'n Karuts'" (both meaning Kars Fortress) and "Amurn Karuts'" (Sturdy Kars). At some point in the ninth century (at least by 888) it became part of the territory of the Armenian Bagratunis. For a short time (from 928 to 961) Kars became the capital of their kingdom. It was during this period that the town's cathedral, later known as the Church of the Holy Apostles, was built.

 

In 963, shortly after the Bagratuni capital was transferred to Ani, Kars became the capital of a separate independent kingdom, again called Vanand. The extent of its actual independence from the Kingdom of Ani is uncertain: it was always held by relatives of the rulers of Ani, and after Ani's capture by the Byzantine Empire in 1045 the Bagratuni title King of Kings held by the ruler of Ani was transferred to the ruler of Kars. In 1064, just after the capture of Ani by the Seljuk Turks, the Armenian king of Kars, Gagik-Abas, paid homage to the victorious Turks, so that they would not lay siege to his city. In 1065 Gagik-Abas ceded control of Kars to the Byzantine Empire, but soon after they lost it to the Seljuk Turks.

 

Russian administration

In 1807 Kars successfully resisted an attack by the Russian Empire. After another siege in 1828 the city was surrendered on June 23, 1828 to the Russian general Count Ivan Paskevich, 11,000 men becoming prisoners of war. Although it later returned to Ottoman control, the new border between the Ottoman Empire and Russia was now much closer to Kars. During the Crimean War a Ottoman garrison led by British officers including General William Fenwick Williams kept the Russians at bay during a protracted siege; but after the garrison had been devastated by cholera and food supplies had failed, the town was surrendered to General Mouravieff in November 1855.

 

The fortress was again stormed by the Russians in the Battle of Kars during the Russo-Turkish War, 1877-78 under generals Loris-Melikov and Ivan Lazarev. Following the war, Kars was transferred to Russia by the Treaty of San Stefano. Kars became the capital of Kars Oblast (province), comprising the districts of Kars, Ardahan, Kaghisman, and Olti.

 

From 1878-1881 more than 82,000 Muslims from formerly Ottoman-controlled territory migrated to the Ottoman Empire. Among those there were more than 11,000 people from the city of Kars. At the same time, many Armenians and Greeks migrated to the region from the Ottoman Empire and other regions of Transcaucasia. According to the Russian census data, by 1892 Russians formed 7% of the population, Greeks 13.5%, Kurds 15%, Armenians 21.5%, Turks 24%, Karapapakhs 14%, and Turkmen were 5% of the population of Kars Oblast of Russian Empire.

 

World War I

In the First World War, the city was one of the main objectives of the Ottoman army during the Battle of Sarikamish in the Caucasus Campaign. Russia ceded Kars, Ardahan and Batum to the Ottoman Empire under the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk on March 3, 1918. However, by then Kars was under the effective control of Armenian and non-Bolshevik Russian forces. The Ottoman empire captured Kars on April 25, 1918, but under the Armistice of Mudros (October 1918) was required to withdraw to its 1914 frontier. The Ottomans refused to relinquish Kars; its military governor instead constituting a provisional government, the Provisional National Government of the Southwestern Caucasus, led by Fahrettin Pirioglu, that claimed Turkish sovereignty over Kars and the Turkish-speaking and Islamic neighbouring regions as far as Batumi and Alexandropol (Gyumri). Much of the region was occupied by Armenia in January 1919 but the pro-Turkish government remained in the city until the arrival of the British troops, who dissolved it on April 19, 1919, arresting its leaders and sending them to Malta. In May 1919 Kars came under the full administration of the Armenian Republic and became the capital of its Vanand province.

 

Skirmishes between Turkish revolutionaries and Armenian border troops in Olti led to an invasion of the Armenian Republic by four Turkish divisions under the command of General Kâzım Karabekir, triggering the Turkish-Armenian War. The war led to the capture of Kars by Turkish forces on October 30, 1920. The terms of the Treaty of Alexandropol, signed by the representatives of Armenia and Turkey on December 2, 1920, forced Armenia to cede more than 50% of its pre-war territory and to give up all the territories granted to it at the Treaty of Sèvres.

 

After the Bolshevik advance into Armenia, the Alexandropol treaty was superseded by the Treaty of Kars (October 23, 1921), signed between Turkey and the Soviet Union. The treaty allowed for Soviet annexation of Adjara in exchange for Turkish control of the regions of Kars, Igdir, and Ardahan. The treaty established peaceful relations between the two nations, but as early as 1939, some British diplomats noted indications that the Soviet Union was not satisfied with the established border. On more than one occasion, the Soviets attempted to renegotiate with Turkey to at least allow the Armenians access to the ancient ruins of Ani. However, the government in Ankara refused these attempts.

 

In 1206/1207 the city was captured by the Georgians and given to the same Zakarid family who ruled Ani. They retained control of Kars until the late 1230s, after which it had Turkish rulers. In 1387 the city surrendered to Timur (Tamerlane) and its fortifications were damaged. Anatolian beyliks followed until 1534, when the Ottoman army captured the city. The fortifications of the city were rebuilt by the Ottoman Sultan Murad III and were strong enough to withstand a siege by Nadir Shah of Persia, in 1731. It became the head of a sanjak in the Ottoman vilayet of Erzurum.

 

Recent history

After World War II, the Soviet Union attempted to annul the Kars treaty and regain its lost territory. On June 7, 1945, Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov told the Turkish ambassador to Moscow Selim Sarper that the regions should be returned to the Soviet Union, in the name of both the Georgian and Armenian republics. Turkey found itself in a difficult position: it wanted good relations with the Soviet Union, but at the same time they refused to give up the territories. Turkey itself was in no condition to fight a war with the Soviet Union, which had emerged as a superpower after the second world war. By the autumn of 1945, Soviet troops in the Caucasus were already assembling for a possible invasion of Turkey. The British prime minister Winston Churchill objected to these territorial claims, while President Harry S. Truman of the United States felt that this matter shouldn't concern other parties. The Cold War was just beginning.

 

In April 1993, Turkey closed its Kars border crossing with Armenia, in a protest against the capture of Kelbajar district of Azerbaijan by Armenian forces during the Nagorno-Karabakh War. Since then the land border between Armenia and Turkey has remained closed. Although national politicians have shown little inclination to change this policy, and Azerbaijan together with Turkish nationalist groups have campaigned for the closure to remain, there has been increasing local pressure for the border to be re-opened. In 2006, former Kars mayor Naif Alibeyoğlu said that opening the border would boost the local economy and reawaken the city. But there is also an increasing opposition and pressure by the local population against the re-opening of the border. Along with intense pressure from Azerbaijan and the local population, including the 20% ethnic Azerbaijani minority, the Turkish foreign minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has reiterated that opening the border with Armenia is out of question.

 

The Kars–Tbilisi–Baku railway, a regional rail link project which will directly connect Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan (and deliberately bypass and isolate Armenia), began to be constructed in 2007 and is scheduled for completion by 2012.

 

Kars Citadel

Kars Castle (Kars Kalesi), also known as the citadel, sits at the top a rocky hill overlooking Kars. Its walls date back to the Bagratuni Armenian period (there is surviving masonry on the north side of the castle) but it probably took on its present form during the thirteenth century when Kars was ruled by the Zak'arid dynasty. The walls bear crosses in several places, including a khachkar with a building inscription in Armenian on the easternmost tower, so the much repeated statement that Kars castle was built by Ottoman Sultan Murad III during the war with Persia, at the close of the sixteenth century, is inaccurate. However, Murad probably did reconstruct much of the city walls (they are similar to those that the Ottoman army constructed at Ardahan).

 

By the nineteenth century the citadel had lost most of its defensive purpose and a series of outer fortresses and defensive works were constructed to encircle Kars - this new defensive system proved particularly notable during the Siege of Kars in 1855.

 

Other historical structures

Below the castle is an Armenian church known as Surb Aṛak'elots, the Church of the Apostles. Built in the 930s, it has a tetraconch plan (a square with four semicircular apses) surmounted by a spherical dome. On the exterior, the drum of the dome contains bas-relief depictions of twelve figures, usually interpreted as representing the Twelve Apostles. The dome itself has a conical roof. The church was converted to a mosque in 1579, and then converted into a Russian Orthodox church in the 1880s. The Russians constructed porches in front of the church's 3 entrances, and an elaborate belltower (now demolished) next to the church. The church was used as a warehouse from the 1930s, and it housed a small museum from 1963 until the late 1970s. Then the building was left to itself for about two decades, until it was converted into a mosque in 1998.

 

The "Tashköprü" (Stone Bridge) is a bridge over the Kars river, built in 1725. Close to the bridge are three old bath-houses.

 

As a settlement at the juncture of Turkish, Caucasian, Kurdish, Russian, and Armenian cultures, the buildings of Kars come in a variety of architectural styles. Orhan Pamuk in the novel Snow, which takes place in Kars, makes repeated references to "the Russian houses", built "in a Baltic style", whose like cannot be seen anywhere else in Turkey, and deplores the deteriorating condition of these houses.

[Ashot]

Ani (Անի) is a ruined and uninhabited medieval Armenian city-site situated in the Turkish province of Kars, beside the border with Armenia. It was once the capital of a medieval Armenian kingdom that covered much of present day Armenia and eastern Turkey. The city is located on a triangular site, visually dramatic and naturally defensive, protected on its eastern side by the ravine of the Akhurian River and on its western side by the Bostanlar or Tzaghkotzadzor valley. The Akhurian is a branch of the Araks River and forms part of the current border between Turkey and Armenia. Called the "City of 1001 Churches", it stood on various trade routes and its many religious buildings, palaces, and fortifications were amongst the most technically and artistically advanced structures in the world.

 

At its height, Ani had a population of 100,000–200,000 people and was the rival of Constantinople, Baghdad and Cairo. Long ago renowned for its splendor and magnificence, Ani has been abandoned and largely forgotten for centuries.

 

Etymology

Armenian chroniclers such as Yeghishe and Ghazar Parpetsi first mentioned Ani in the 5th century AD. They described it as a strong fortress built on a hilltop and a possession of the Armenian Kamsarakan dynasty. The city took its name from the Armenian fortress-city and pagan center of Ani-Kamakh located in the region of Daranaghi in Upper Armenia.[4] Ani was also previously known as Khnamk (Խնամք), although historians are uncertain as to why it was called so. Johann Heinrich Hübschmann, a German philologist and linguist who studied the Armenian language, suggested that the word may have came from the Armenian word "khnamel" (խնամել), an infinitive which means "to take care of".

 

Capital of the Bagratuni kingdom

By the early 9th century the former territories of the Kamsarakans in Arsharunik and Shirak (including Ani) had been incorporated into the territories of the Armenian Bagratuni dynasty. Their leader, Ashot Msaker (Ashot the Meateater) (806-827) was given the title of ishkhan (prince) of Armenia by the Caliphate in 804. The Bagratunis had their first capital at Bagaran, some 40 km south of Ani, before moving it to Shirakavan, some 25 km northeast of Ani, and then transferring it to Kars in the year 929. In 961 king Ashot III (953-977) transferred the capital from Kars to Ani. Ani expanded rapidly during the reign of King Smbat II (977-989). In 992 the Armenian Catholicosate moved its seat to Ani. In the 10th century the population was perhaps 50,000–100,000.By the start of the 11th century the population of Ani was well over 100,000, and its renown was such that it was known as "The city of forty gates" and "The city of a thousand and one churches."

 

Ani attained the peak of its power during the long reign of King Gagik I (989-1020). After his death his two sons quarrelled over the succession. The eldest son, Hovhannes Smbat (1020–1041), gained control of Ani and his younger brother, Ashot IV (1020–1040), controlled other parts of the Bagratuni kingdom. Hovhannes-Smbat, fearing that the Byzantine Empire would attack his now weakened kingdom, made the Byzantine Emperor Basil his heir. In January 1022, the Catholicos Peter, handed over to Basil II who was wintering with his army in Trebizond a document from Hovhannes-Smbat pledging his kingdom to the emperor in the event of his death. When Hovhannes-Smbat died in 1041, the successor to Basil, Emperor Michael IV claimed sovereignty over Ani. The new king of Ani, Gagik II (1042–1045), opposed this and several Byzantine armies sent to capture Ani were repulsed. However, in 1045, after the capture of Ashot and at the instigation of pro-Byzantine elements amongst its population, Ani surrendered to Byzantine control. A Greek governor was installed in the city.

 

Sacking and desolation

In 1064 a large Seljuk Turkish army, headed by Sultan Alp Arslan, with the help of the Caucasian Georgians headed by King Bagrat, attacked Ani and after a siege of 25 days they captured the city and slaughtered its population. An account of the sack and massacres in Ani is given by the Arab historian Sibt ibn al-Gawzi, who quotes an eyewitness saying:

 

In 1072 the Seljuks sold Ani to the Shaddadids, a Muslim Kurdish dynasty that had originated in Ganja. The Shaddadids generally pursued a conciliatory policy towards the city’s overwhelmingly Armenian and Christian population and actually married several members of the Bagratid nobility. Whenever the Shaddadid governance became too intolerant, the population would appeal to the Christian kingdom of Georgia for help. The Georgians captured Ani in 1124, 1161 and 1174, each time eventually returning it to the Shaddadids.

 

In the year 1199 the forces of the Georgian queen Tamara captured Ani and dislodged the Shaddadids, the governorship of the city was given to Armenian generals Zakare and Ivane Mkhargrdzeli. At Ani, this new dynasty is generally known as the Zakarids, after its founder Zakare, and they considered themselves to be the successors to the Bagratids. Prosperity quickly returned to Ani; its defences were strengthened and many new churches were constructed. Zakare was succeeded by his son Shahanshah.

 

The Mongols unsuccessfully besieged Ani in 1226, but in 1236 they captured and sacked the city, massacring large numbers of its population. Ani had fallen when Shahanshah was absent. On his return the Zakarids continued to rule Ani, only now as vassals of the Mongols rather than the Georgians. Ani started its gradual but terminal decline during the Mongol period. By the 14th century the city was ruled by a succession of local Turkish dynasties, including the Jalayrids and the Kara Koyunlu (Black Sheep clan) who made Ani their capital. Tamerlane captured Ani in the 1380s. On his death the Kara Koyunlu regained control but transferred their capital to Yerevan. In 1441 the Armenian Catholicosate did the same. The Persian Safavids then ruled Ani until it became part of the Turkish Ottoman Empire in 1579. A small town remained within its walls at least until the middle 17th century, but the site was entirely abandoned by the middle of the 18th century. The depopulation of Ani was paralleled by the depopulation of its rural hinterland as a result of political unrest in the border region during the Ottoman-Iranian wars and a fragmentation of central control by either of the empires.

 

Cultural and economic center

Ani did not lie along any previously important trade routes, but because of its size, power, and wealth it became an important trading hub. Its primary trading partners were the Byzantine Empire, the Persian Empire, the Arabs, as well as smaller nations in southern Russia and Central Asia.

 

Modern times

In the first half of the 19th century, European travelers discovered Ani for the outside world, publishing their descriptions in academic journals and travel accounts. In 1878 the Kars region, including Ani, was incorporated into the territory of the Russian Empire. In 1892 the first archaeological excavations were conducted at Ani, sponsored by the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences and supervised by the Russian archaeologist and orientalist Nikolai Marr (1864–1934). Marr's excavations at Ani resumed in 1904 and continued yearly until 1917. Large sectors of the city were professionally excavated, numerous buildings were uncovered and measured, the finds were studied and published in academic journals, guidebooks for the monuments and the museum were written, and the whole site was surveyed for the first time. Emergency repairs were also undertaken on those buildings that were most at risk of collapse. A museum was established to house the tens of thousands of items found during the excavations. This museum was housed in two buildings: the Minuchihr mosque, and a purpose-built stone building.

 

In 1918, during the latter stages of World War I, the armies of the Ottoman Empire were fighting their way across the territory of the newly declared Republic of Armenia, capturing Kars in April 1918. At Ani, attempts were made to evacuate the artefacts contained in the museum as Turkish soldiers were approaching the site. About 6000 of the most portable items were removed by archaeologist Ashkharbek Kalantar, a participant of Marr's excavation campaigns. At the behest of Joseph Orbeli, the saved items were consolidated into a museum collection; they are currently part of the collection of Yerevan's State Museum of Armenian History. Everything that was left behind was later looted or destroyed. Turkey's surrender at the end of World War 1 led to the restoration of Ani to Armenian control, but a resumed offensive against the Armenian Republic in 1920 resulted in Turkey's recapture of Ani. In 1921 the signing of the Treaty of Kars formalised the incorporation of the territory containing Ani into the Republic of Turkey.

 

In May 1921 the Turkish National Assembly issued a command to the commander of the Eastern Front, Kazım Karabekir, ordering that the "monuments of Ani be wiped off the face of the earth". Karabekir records in his memoirs that he replied dismissively to this command, but the wiping-out of all traces of Marr's excavations and building repairs suggests that the command was partially carried out.

 

Current State

According to The Economist:

Even as a ruin, Ani has been a disputed city. In 1921 when most of the site was ceded to Turkey, the Armenians were dismayed. They have since accused the Turks of neglecting the place in a spirit of chauvinism. The Turks retort that Ani's remains have been shaken by blasts from a quarry on the Armenian side of the border.

Another commentator describes:

Ani is now a ghost city, uninhabited for over three centuries and marooned inside a Turkish military zone on Turkey's border with modern Armenia. Ani's recent history has been one of continuous and always increasing destruction. Neglect, earthquakes, cultural cleansing, vandalism, quarrying, amateurish restorations and excavations - all these and more have taken a heavy toll on Ani's monuments.

 

In the estimation of the Landmarks Foundation (a non-profit organization established for the protection of sacred sites) this ancient city: needs to be protected regardless of whose jurisdiction it falls under. Earthquakes in 1319, 1832, and 1988, Army Target practice and general neglect all have had devastating effects on the architecture of the city. The city of Ani is a sacred place which needs ongoing protection.

 

As a tourist site, Ani has been less than welcoming until recently. A traveler gives the following account from a few years ago: Due to the proximity of the border, just as in Soviet days, visitors to Ani must first obtain permission from the tourist office in Kars. The lengthy procedure which is mentioned in many guidebooks has been shortcut and there is no need anymore to pay a visit to the police and the museum in Kars. Permit and entrance ticket are now issued at the Kars tourist office. The employees request the plate number of your car or taxi and try to sell you a packaged tour that they organize. This being the good news. The bad news is that, due to tensions with Armenia, photography is again strictly forbidden. When we arrived at Ani, all cameras had to remain in the car. During the visit, after a friendly body search, we were constantly escorted by border guards to ensure that no one went too close to the border.

 

Around 2004 these restrictions were relaxed and photography is now allowed.

 

Now, according to an author of Lonely Planet and Frommer's travel guides to Turkey:

Official permission to visit Ani is no longer needed. Just go to Ani and buy a ticket. If you don't have your own car, haggle with a taxi or minibus driver in Kars for the round-trip to Ani, perhaps sharing the cost with other travelers. If you have trouble, the Tourist Office may help. Plan to spend at least a half-day at Ani. It's not a bad idea to bring a picnic lunch and a water bottle.

 

Turkey's authorities now say they will do their best to conserve and develop the site and the culture ministry has listed Ani among the sites it is keenest to conserve. In the words of Mehmet Ufuk Erden, the local governor:

By restoring Ani, we'll make a contribution to humanity...We will start with one church and one mosque, and over time we will include every single monument.

 

The World Monuments Fund placed Ani on its 1996, 1998, and 2000 Watch Lists of 100 Most Endangered Sites. In an October 2010 report titled Saving Our Vanishing Heritage, Global Heritage Fund identified Ani as one of 12 worldwide sites most "On the Verge" of irreparable loss and destruction, citing insufficient management and looting as primary causes.

[Ashot]

Sis (Սիս) is a city in Adana Province 68 km north of the city of Adana, in the northern section of the Çukurova plain. The city is the capital of Kozan district. The Kilgen Stream, a tributary of the Ceyhan River (formerly Jibun or Pyramus), flows through Kozan crossing the plain south into the Mediterranean Sea. The Toros mountains rise up sharply behind the town. Sis was the capital of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia.

 

The population of the city has grown rapidly in recent years, from 15,159 in 1960, to 54,451 in 1990, to 72,463 in 2007 and to 74 521 in 2009 (census figures).

 

History

From 3000BC onwards there were Hittite settlements in all these plains behind the Mediterranean coast, based on farming and grazing animals. The area then changed hands many times, eventually becoming Flavias or Flaviopolis in the former Roman province of Cilicia Secunda.

 

The Christian era

Sis had an important place in ecclesiastical history both the Armenian Apostolic Church and as a Roman Catholic titular see. If the identification of Flavias with Sis, which is probable, be admitted, it will be found that it is first mentioned in Theodoret's life of St. Simeon Stylites.

 

In the Middle Ages Sis was the religious centre of Christian Armenians, at least until the Armenian clergy installed a rival to Catholicos Gregory IX of Cilicia in 1441 in Vagharshapat (Echmiadzin). Lequien (II, 899) gives the names of several bishops of Sis, before and after Gregory IX.

 

Even prior to the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, Sis was an episcopal see and several names of bishops and patriarchs can be found in the literature:

 

* Alexander, later Bishop of Jerusalem and founder of the famous library of the Holy Sepulchre in the third century

* Nicetas, present at the First Council of Nicaea in 325

* John, who lived in 451;

* Andrew in the sixth century

* George (681)

* Eustratus, Patriarch of Antioch about 868.

 

In 704, Sis was besieged by the Arabs, but relieved by the Byzantines. The Abbasid caliph al-Mutawakkil took it and refortified it, but it soon returned to Byzantine hands. It was rebuilt in 1186 by Leo II, king of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, one of the Rupenide dynasty who made the city the capital of the Kingdom of Lesser Armenia (from 1186 till 1375). During the Crusade the catholicate returned to Sis in 1294, and remained there 150 years.

 

In 1266 Sis, the capital of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, was captured and damaged by the Egyptians led by Baibars. al-Said Barakah sent Qalawun to attack the city in 1277, but in 1375, Sis was taken and demolished by the Ramazanoğlu Turks, under the flag of the Mamluke Sultan of Egypt. The town never recovered its prosperity, not even when it passed into the power of the Ottomans in 1516. Sis became Kozan during overlordship of Kozanoğulları, a Turkmen clan between 1700-1866.

 

In 1441, Sis having fallen from its high estate, the Armenian clergy proposed to remove the see, and on the refusal of the Catholicos of the day, Gregory IX, installed a rival, namely Kirakos I Virapetsi (Kirakos of Armenia) at Echmiadzin, who, as soon as Selim I had conquered Greater Armenia, became the more widely accepted of the two by the Armenian church in the Ottoman Empire.

 

The Catholicos of Sis (of the Holy See of Cilicia) maintained himself nevertheless, with under his jurisdiction several bishops, numerous villages and convents, and was supported in his views by the Catholic Pope up to the middle of the 19th century, when the patriarch Nerses, declaring finally for Echmiadzin, carried the government with him. In 1885, Sis tried to declare Echmiadzin schismatic, and in 1895 its clergy took it on themselves to elect a Catholicos without reference to the patriarch; but the Porte annulled the election, and only allowed it six years later upon Sis renouncing its pretensions to independence. That Catholicos had the right to prepare the sacred myron (oil) and to preside over a synod, but was in fact not more than a metropolitan, and regarded by many Armenians as schismatic.

 

Kozan was occupied by France between March 8, 1919 - June 2, 1920 during Turkish War of Independence. After declaring republic in Turkey, Kozan was a province, compromised districts of Kozan, Kadirli, Feke and Saimbeyli between 1923-1926.

 

Kozan today

Today Kozan is a city surrounded by vineyards, gardens and groves of cypress, sycamore fig, orange and lemon trees. In summer the great heat (40 plus degrees Celcsius or 115-118 plus degrees Fahrenheit) compels the inhabitants to desert Kozan, retreating to cool off in the wooded higher ground.

 

Things to see

Today ruins of churches, convents, castles and palaces may be seen on all sides. The lofty castle and the monastery and church built by Leo II, and containing the coronation chair of the kings of Cilician Armenia, were still noteworthy in the early 20th century.

[Ashot]

Yerevan (Երևան) - Follow the link for detailed information - Link