Overview
Kars is a city on a high plateau in northeastern Turkey, near the Armenian border. It’s a gateway to the abandoned Armenian city of Ani to the east, with its ruined 11th-century churches, mosques and palaces in a remote open field.
Description
On the outskirts of Kars, the Kars Museum has historical artifacts, including images of the excavation of Ani. The hilltop Kars Castle overlooks the meandering Kars River. Dominated by a stark medieval fortress, Kars was once an Armenian stronghold, briefly capital of the Armenian Bagratid kingdom from AD 929 to 961 and later a pawn in the imperial land-grabbing tussle played out by Turkey and Russia during the 19th century. The Russians captured Kars in 1878, installed a garrison and held it until 1920 and the Turkish War of Independence, when the republican forces retook it. Many of the sturdier stone buildings along the main streets date back to the Russian occupation.
Kars, Kars
Turkey
URL:
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/turkey/the-black-sea-and-northeastern-anatolia/kars/narratives/background/history