WILLIAM J. HAMILTON
"Researches in Asia Minor, Pontus, and Armenia"


This book was published in two volumes in the year 1842. In the first volume, Hamilton recounts his travels from Constantinople to Trebizond - and from there into Armenia via Bayburt, Erzurum, Kars, Ani, Bardez, Ispir, and Bayburt again - before returning to Trabzon. This extract covers pages 195 to 203.

CHAPTER XII

SUNDAY, JUNE 12, 1836. - Kars to Hadji Veli Kieui five hours. We left Kars by the eastern gate, near to which, on the city walls, we observed some rude bas-reliefs representing animals, in a style which may be called Armenian. On reaching the plain, we fell in with upwards of thirty timber waggons on their way to Gumri. Our direction lay nearly east, while that of Gumri was east by north; as we advanced, the hills to the north gradually trending away, we soon found ourselves traversing a flat, undulating plain of basalt, rising gently towards the east. In front of us, about seven miles from Kars, two conical hills, evidently extinct volcanoes, rose from the plain, showing that the volcanic nature of the country still continued towards Mount Ararat. These basaltic rocks were extremely cellular and vesicular, from whence their more recent origin may be inferred. Not a tree appeared upon the plain, nor upon the high range of Karadagh, about eighteen or twenty miles off to the E.S.E.; the pasture, however, was excellent, and near Kars we saw much arable land; but the crops were still backward.

At one p.m. we passed between the two conical hills, the protrusion of which has caused a low ridge of hills, as the ground almost immediately afterwards slopes towards the N.E. Before reaching Hadji Veli Kieui, we passed more waggons laden with timber, and driven by Georgian and Circassian peasants, whose fur caps and tight dresses easily distinguished them from the Turks.

Hadji Veii Kieui is a miserable small place where the Kaimakan of Kars had ordered us a konak; but it was no better than our usual lodgings; worse, indeed, in some respects, as our horses were under the same roof, and only separated from us by a low railing. At a distance, indeed, a stranger would have had some difficulty in recognising it as a village, for the houses were all under ground, appearing like low heaps of rubbish, with a few walls or mounds of stones on them. It is situated on the western bank of a deep and narrow ravine in the basaltic rock, on the brink of which were the remains of a small rude castle, now used as a cattle fold. The basalt has in some places a slightly columnar structure ; the upper part is extremely cellular, but becomes more compact lower down. Walking over the hills to the east, which are covered with fine pasture, we observed the loose stones collected into heaps in many places, as well as the marks of half-obliterated furrows, symptoms of a more extensive cultivation in former times. In the course of our walk we first saw the lofty peak of Ararat, or Aghri Dagh, towering in majestic and solitary grandeur above all the surrounding hills, from which it is completely detached, with its summit for several thousand feet covered with perpetual snow, and rising to a high point from a broad and sloping base. Beyond the Russian frontier we also saw the lofty snowy mountain of Alaijah Dagh towering E. by S., and numerous other volcanic-looking conical hills to the S. and S.W., besides others at a greater distance to the E. and N.E. In the evening our host, according to the usual Turkish practice, on our showing him a little civility, and pointing out the peculiarities of our copper-cap pistols, began to be over-familiar and presuming, and confirmed me in my opinion that the only way to get on with these semi-barbarians is by treating them with ordinary civility, and keeping them at a distance.

MONDAY, JUNE 13. - What between my anxiety to see the ruins of Anni and the annoyance of vermin, I was unable to close my eyes all night. We started at five A.M., the country being rather hilly, but otherwise resembling that through which we had passed since we left Kars. As we were doubting whether we should find anything to repay our exertions, the ruins suddenly came in sight, and at seven we reached a village seven miles from Hadji Veli Kieui, having crossed two or three small streams flowing N.E. towards the Kara Su and Arpa Chai, the ancient Harpasus. The modern village is about half a mile to the north of the ruins; to which we proceeded, after having established ourselves in a small Oda.

The town of Anni was built in a triangular form, on a rocky peninsula overhanging the rapid waters of the Arpa Chai; it was defended on the east by steep cliffs, at the foot of which the river flows in a deep and winding gorge, and on the west by a dry ravine of considerable breadth, in the steep sides of which many thousand tombs and caverns have been excavated. These two valleys meet at the apex of the triangle towards the south, while the base towards the north, where the promontory joins the flat table-land of the country, is fortified by strong and massive walls, defended by numerous round towers, extending completely across the isthmus. These walls are still in some places forty or fifty feet high, and very beautifully built, the outer casing consisting of large square blocks of yellow stone from the neighbourhood, closely fitted together. A singular and striking effect has been produced by the occasional introduction of alternate courses, as well as crosses and other ornaments, in black stone, also from the neighbourhood.

In this wall we observed two gateways leading into the town, the most western of which was flanked by towers of great height. but it was so blocked up by fallen fragments that it was impossible to enter. The other entrance was near the centre of the line, where was a double wall, and the two gateways were not upon the same axis. Immediately opposite the entrance in the outer wall, some Armenian inscriptions and a lion have been rudely carved upon the inner one, the entrance of which was also flanked by round towers. On passing the inner gateway we had a full view of the town, with the walls stretching away from us on each side; and although these ruins were not so numerous as we had expected to find them, there was, nevertheless, something impressive and almost awful in the sight of a Christian town, built in a style so peculiar to itself, and unknown to modern Europe, now nearly in the same state in which its destroyers had left it eight centuries ago. The whole site of the town was covered with the fallen remains of smaller buildings and private dwellings, whilst about twenty large public edifices could be distinguished from the rest. These were chiefly churches and chapels, with two beautiful octagon minarets, one of which was still attached to a ruined mosque; considerable remains of the palace were also visible.

The principal object, which attracted our attention on entering the town, was the large Christian church to the south of the gateway, built in the form of a Latin cross, and in a good state of preservation. The pointed roof was formed of large slabs of stone supported on arches, and, with the exception of the cupola, was perfect. The entrance was at the west end, and on each side of it were numerous inscriptions in the Armenian character, which, when deciphered, will throw light on the history of the place. Indeed, there is hardly a building in Anni of any consequence which is not covered with Armenian inscriptions. The interior of the church consisted of one central and two side aisles; its length from the semicircular bema to the entrance was 107 feet, and the width 66 feet. The style might be called Byzantine, with a mixture of Saracenic; the round arches are raised upon lofty pilasters. which give them a very different character from the real Byzantine or low Saxon arch. This style we found prevailing universally in Anni, but in some instances with a greater variety of ornament and sculpture, and gradually approaching the rich Arabic or Moorish style. On each side of the bema, in which were twelve niches, was a small dark apartment or vestry, with a narrow staircase leading up to two similar rooms above. The church was full of cattle, which had taken refuge there from the mid-day heat.

A short distance to the west of the church was a high minaret with a long Arabic inscription, and 100 yards further south the remains of a large mosque, with its minaret still standing. It was built on the edge of the precipice overhanging the Arpa Chai, and was decidedly Saracenic; the roof was supported by low columns with flat capitals. The building was nearly square, one corner only being filled up in order to support the minaret; and on the outside were inscriptions both in Arabic and Armenian. At the south end of the town, near the apex of the triangle, was an elevated rocky spot, which in a Greek city would have been the Acropolis; here, however, we only found the ruins of three or four small chapels on the summit and sides of the hill, without any vestiges of its ever having been fortified. On its S.E. side was another chapel in rich style and good preservation, with a conical roof, a form which prevailed in all the buildings where the roof still existed. A slight wall extended round the hill at a little distance from the summit, but it was probably only intended to mark the limits of the town, as the steep nature of the ground rendered any other defence superfluous. Between this hill and the large church described above we found the remains of another church completely destroyed and levelled to the ground, but with many fine fragments of architecture lying amongst the ruins. From the general appearance of the fallen masses, which are less broken and less defaced by soil and rubbish than the others, it would seem to have been only lately thrown down.

Returning from the Acropolis along the western side of the town we examined several other interesting buildings, striking from their rich style, and well deserving the attention of the architectural antiquary. The first was an octagon chapel, thirty feet in diameter, surmounted by a dome, and having seven circular niches inside, the eighth being supplied by the entrance; these niches are in shape rather more than a semicircle, thus giving the interior a peculiar and indented character. Within the architecture was extremely plain, but on the outside highly ornamental; rich traceries, flutings, and fretwork, with deeply-carved twisted headings, were carried round the windows and under the cornices. Here also the roof was conical, and formed of large flat slabs, with their edges lapping over each other.

Another richly decorated church was situated to the N.E. of that last described, having attached to it a chapel with a beautiful arched roof, divided into several compartments, filled with mosaics of various patterns, formed of the different coloured stones of the neighbourhood, and having its walls covered with rich carvings and sculptured arabesques. The arches supporting the roof are circular, but pointed arches are produced by their intersections, and various other ornaments commonly called Gothic are occasionally introduced; and I could not avoid indulging in the conjecture that the origin of those rich styles called Gothic and Saracenic might be satisfactorily traced by studying the ornaments of the capitals, and of the numerous angles or recesses between the arches, in which a regular gradation may be observed from perfect simplicity to florid exuberance.

Near the west end of the walls, but within the town, we visited the remains of an extensive building, situated on the edge of the ravine; it had consisted of several stories, in each of which many apartments still remained. It has evidently been the palace of the Kings of Anni, at the period of their greatest power; the masonry is excellent, the blocks of stone fitting with the greatest precision, as is the case with most of the buildings which are still standing, and which had been cased with large square blocks, the edges of which are as perfect as when first built. The gateway is in rich Saracenic style, the window over it has a pointed ogive arch, and the wall is adorned with rich mosaic patterns in various coloured stones.

Many of the caverns in the ravines round the town were sculptured on the inside, showing architectural designs, or covered with rude, ill-carved figures. In one of those near the palace, the sides were cut so as to represent columns, capitals, and cornices, and the roof resembled arches and beams thrown across from the columns on each side. Below the principal church on the east side of the town we found the ruins of a high narrow bridge thrown across the Arpa Chai, leading into the province of Georgia. It is now impassable, the buttresses only remaining on each side; all communication with the Russian territories is thus cut off.

The history of this ancient city is very imperfectly known; but, situated on the frontiers of Armenia and Georgia, it became, in the fifth or sixth century, the capital of the Pakradian branch of Armenian kings. In AD. 637 the Arabian Caliphs first invaded Armenia, and in 887 they conferred a tributary crown on the Pakradian family. who were then highly distinguished by the Mahommedan Governor of Armenia, and in 961 a branch of the Pakradian Kings established the kingdom of Kars. Shortly afterwards the Turkish hordes, bursting forth from central Asia, invaded Armenia and devastated the country. In 1046 a King of Anni had bequeathed his capital and kingdom to the Greek Emperor, and his family was transferred from the throne of Armenia to the proprietorship of a few towns in Cappadocia.

The invasion of the Tartar or Turkoman tribes became every year more destructive. In 1049 they sacked Ardzea, a city near the modern Erzeroum, and levelled its 800 churches to the ground. Fourteen years after this, their leader, Toghrul Bey, died, but was immediately succeeded by his nephew, Alp Arslan, who took and pillaged Anni with dreadful slaughter in 1063. He subsequently made over the city to a Kurdish family, which after a desperate struggle was dispossessed by the kings of Georgia; since which period Anni has been neglected and abandoned by civilized inhabitants, left as a hiding-place for wild beasts and robbers, and the resort of wandering tribes, who combine the ferocity of the former with the deceit and craftiness of the latter.

CHAPTER XIII

TUESDAY, JUNE 14. We would willingly have remained at Anni another day to examine its ruins with more detail, and to copy some of the Armenian inscriptions; but we had been warned against robbers from Karadagh if we spent the night here; and having already so far disregarded the advice which had been given us, we thought it prudent to be off early this morning.
We accordingly started soon after six, passing over an elevated table-land, consisting chiefly of volcanic scoriae and lapilli, about 200 feet above the bed of the river, passing close to the village of Aras Oglu, three miles north of Anni. From thence our road led us over similar ground in a N.E. direction to the village of Maurek; here also we observed the ruins of an old church in the same style as those of Anni, but with only one pier standing, and half of the arch springing from it; about a mile to the W.N.W. was also a chapel of the same age, with a conical roof. Near Maurek we rejoined the high road from Kars to Gümri, when our direction changed to E.N.E., and we had several fine views of Mount Ararat in different positions on our right, with the mountains of Georgia in front.