3 Oct, 2012
After "walking holes in our shoes" at the Ani ruins we headed away from the Armenian border towards the city of Kars, our last stop on this tour.
Kars is known for its huge wheels of Kasar and Gruyere cheeses. So our first port of call was the Cheese shop where we tasted many of the cheeses and of course bought way to much to carry home on the plane!
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| Tom just loved the cheeses! |
Kars was founded in the 10th century by the Armenian King Abas 1 and was once a metropolis of around 100,000. In 1064 it was captured by the Seljuks and subsequently came under Georgian, Ottoman and Russian rule. Kars Kalesi (the citadel) and the stone bridge were built by the Ottomans in 15th century.
The Armenian Church of the 12 Apostles has a long and varied history reflecting the checkered history of the area. It was constructed in 923 AD later in 1064 AD converted to the Kumbet Mosque. From 1827 until 1921 it became a Russian church although it lay idle during that time until it became a Museum from 1969-1980. Finally, in 1994 it became a mosque again and was placed under preservation status.
Today visitors go to Kars mainly for the cheeses and because it is so close to the Ani Ruins. Our Eastern Anatolian tour ended here and after overnighting in Kars we flew back to Izmir so we could take the long distance buses back to Alanya. This is a trip we would highly recommend.
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| Kars Kalesi |
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| 10 th Century Armenian Holy Apostles Church |
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| The frescoes were very hard to capture |
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| Some of the Frescoes in the Church |
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| The Church was first converted to a Mosque in 1064 AD |
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