A selection of traveller's accounts about Ani, Kars region, Turkey.
H. F. B. LYNCH
Armenia: Travels and Studies

Footnotes for pages 334-392

The numbering used for the footnotes in the webpage's text is not the same as that used in the original printed text. The page and footnote numbers of the original printed text are in the square brackets.

Note 1 [footnote 1, p335]
John Katholikos. He has been translated by Saint-Martin (Paris, 1841, a posthumous work). His History, which for a large part is a history of his own times, does not quite bring us down to the constitution of Ani into a royal residence.

Note 2 [footnote 1, p367]
The various emigrations of the inhabitants of Ani are exhibited by Minas Bejeshkean (Travels in Lehastan (Poland) and other Countries inhabited by Armenian Emigrants from Ani, Venice, 1830 (in Armenian). His account is summarised by Brosset (Ruines d’Ani, pp. 138 seq.) and by Ritter (Erdkunde, vol. x. pp. 597 seq.). For the code of the Armenians of Lemberg. see Sitztungsberickte der phil. -hist. Klasse der k. Akad. der Wissenschaften, Vienna, 1862, pp. 255 seq.

Note 3 [footnote 2, p367]
Let me catalogue in this place the works of previous travellers having reference to Ani which I have collected. I shall annex the date of visit whenever I have been able to ascertain it. I have purposely omitted works written in Russian or in Annenian. The full titles will be found in the bibliography attached to Vol. II. (1) 1621, Poser (Reyse, etc., jena, 1675). His account is confined to a few sentences. He mentions the existence of 200 churches in Ani and the immediate neighbourhood. (2) Tavernier (edit. Paris, 1679, Livre Premier, p. 24). A few misleading sentences. (3) 1817, Ker Porter (Travels in Georgia, etc., London, 1821-22, vol. i. pp. 169 seq.). A fantastic description. (4) 1836, Hamilton (Researches in Asia Minor, etc., London, 1842, vol. i. pp. 197 seq.). The best of these older notices. (5) 1837, Wilbraham (Travels, etc., London, 1839, pp. 287 seq.). The hasty but vivid impressions of a tourist, from which the following is an extract: "The shapeless mounds of Babylon are like the skeleton; but the deserted, yet still standing city (Ani) resembles the corpse whose breath has fled, but which still retains the semblance of life." (6) 1837, Abbott (Notes of a Tour, Journal R..G. S., 1842, vol. xii. PP. 215 seq.). Not important. (7) 1838, Eugene Bore (Corr. et Mem., Paris, 1840, vol. ii. p. 2) mentions a mémoire in which he was about to resume the results of his seven days’ sojourn in Ani, during which he copied inscriptions. The mémoire has been lost. (8) 1839, Texier (Description de l'Armenie, etc., Paris, 1842, folio, pp. 93-116), with a plan, which is not oriented, and ten fine plates. Texier’s account is both defective and unsatisfactory ; but it is the first detailed description. I must warn my reader against accepting his history; he seems to confuse Timur with Alp Arslan in some places. (9) 1844, Hermann Abich (Bull. hist. -phil. de l'Acad. de Sciences de St. Petersbourg, 1845, vol. ii. pp. 369-76, with notice by Brosset; Aus kaukasischen Landern, Reisebriefe, Vienna, 1896, pp. 276-200). The distinguished geologist devoted four days to the study of the ruins and drew out a plan of the site. His full account, for which consult the latter of the two references, had not been published, so far as I could ascertain, at the time of my own journey. But Brosset had already published the plan, the substantial accuracy of which I was able to test upon the spot (Voyage Archaeologique, St. Petersburg, 1849-51, Atlas), and the inscriptions copied by Abich (in the same work, livr. 1, rapp. 3, pp 81-111). (10) 1846, Muravieff, quoted by Khanikoff ap. Brosset (Voy. Arch. livr. 1, rapp. 3, pp. 121-52). (11) 1847, Nerses Sargisean of the Society of the Mekhitarists of Venice copied a number of the inscriptions. Sec Brosset (Ruines d'Ani, St. Petersburg, 1860, p. 5), and especially Brosset’s article in the Bull. Acad. Sciences .St. P., 1862, vol. iv. pp. 255-67. (12) 1848, Khanikoff copied the Mussulman inscriptions. See Brosset (Voy. Arch. livr. I, rapp. 3, pp. 121-52). (13) 1850, Kästner (Lieut. Julius) was commissioned by prince Vorontsoff; Governor of the Caucasus, to explore Ani, and spent forty-four days within its walls. He collected fifty inscriptions and made numerous drawings, which have been made use of by Brosset (Ruines d’Ani, pp. 4 seq.). (14) 18--, Ussher (Journey from London to Persepolis, London, 1865, pp. 243-45). A sketchy description.
The whole subject has been fully treated, but unfortunately at second hand, by Brosset (Ruines d'Ani, St. Pet. 1860, and Bull. Acad. Sciences St. P., 1862, vol. iv. pp. 255-67). The traveller is deeply indebted to Brosset for these two valuable treatises. Fergusson has devoted a few pages to Ani in the first volume of his History of Architecture (see pp. 473-75).
I ought not to close this list without referring to two works in Armenian which are of special value Sargis Dgalaleantz (Journey in Great Armenia, Tiflis, 1842 and 1858, 8vo), and Alishan (Description of Great Armenia, Venice, 1855). Both these works contain accounts of Ani.

Note 4 [footnote 1, p368]
This ravine is the Armenian Tsaghkotzadzor or Valley of the Flower-garden.

Note 5 [footnote 1, p369]
The moat may have united the waters of the Alaja and the Arpa Chai. See Ruines d'Ani, p. 60.

Note 6 [footnote 1, p370]
See Brosset, Ruines d'Ani, pp. 18 and 144. It may belong to the Tartar period (Mongol) and have reference to the restoration of Ani after the earthquake of A.D. 1319. Texier (op. cit. p. 94) commits himself to the statement that it is in Arabic characters; but see khanikoff, op. cit. p. 135.

Note 7 [footnote 2, p370]
On the authority of Samuel of Ani. See supra, p. 354.

Note 8 [footnote 3, p370]
See Brosset, Ruines d'Ani, pp. 16, 17, 58, 59; and Voyage Arch., livr. 1, rapp. 3, p. 143. One of these inscriptions indicates that the name of the reigning prince of the Beni-Cheddad in A.D. 1160, just before the Georgian conquest, was Phatl (Fathlun). Several belong to the reign of Thamar, and exhibit the name of the Georgian ruler, Zakare-Shahanshah, who is styled "chief of the mandatories" and son of Sarkis Shahanshah. See Brosset (Voyage Arch., livr. I, rapp. I, pp. 92-94, and Ruines d'Ani, p. 18) for an explanation of this title. Two of these inscriptions of Zakare belong to the years 1206 and 1215 respectively.

Note 9 [footnote 4, p370]
Ani is said to have contained not less than 100,000 inhabitants in the eleventh century. Yet the circumference of the city has been estimated at not more than 3 1/2 miles. I am inclined to think that a large proportion of the population lived without the walls.

Note 10 [footnote 1, p371]
The conjecture which Brosset throws out that the mosque referred to may be the cathedral is not, I think, a happy one. For this minaret see especially Khanikoff (op. cit. pp. 135.36), Brosset (Ruines d'Ani, p. 31), and Abich (Aus kauk. land. vol. 1. p. 191). The inscription describes Kei-Sultan as "son of Mahmud, son of Chawir, son of Manuchar, Cheddadi." Kei-Sultan is not otherwise known. We must conclude that the Beni-Cheddad were still powerful in Ani as late as the end of the twelfth century.

Note 11 [footnote 2, p371]
The dimensions of the interior are as follows, according to my measurements: Length, 105 feet 6 in. (viz. 76 feet 6 in. to the dais of the apse, and 29 feet from the dais to the extremity of the recess); breadth, 65 feet 6 in.; breadth of apse, 29 feet 7 in.

Note 12 [footnote 1, p372]
Texier reminds us that at the time when this cathedral was built (early eleventh century) the Romanesque style was universal in Europe (op. cit. p. 112). Yet in this building we have the characteristics of a style which might be found in Southern Europe in the thirteenth century - the pointed arch, the coupled piers. See also Fergusson, op. cit. p. 473.

Note 13 [footnote 2, p372]
I must caution my reader against the drawing of this apse in plate ix. of Brosset’s Atlas to the Ruines d'Ani.

Note 14 [footnote 3, p372]
The cathedral has been recently constituted into quite a little museum, all fragments of sculptured stone found at Ani being preserved there. I photographed one of the most remarkable, which displays the familiar subject of the eagle and the hare (Fig. 75). Another contains a has-relief of three saints, and was probably placed above a doorway.

Note 15 [footnote 1, p373]
Brosset, Voyage Arch. livr. 1, rapp. 3, pp. 93-95 and Ruines d'Ani, pp. 22-28.

Note 16 [footnote 2, p373]
Siunik was one of the large provinces into which Armenia was divided. Samuel of Ani places the completion of the cathedral in Arm. era 457 = A.D. 1008. But he may refer to a stage which was not quite the ultimate one.

Note 17 [footnote 3, p373]
Brosset identifies this Aron with the Aron-Vestes of the Byzantines, who was sent to these countries about the year 1042, was commander of the imperial forces, became governor of Vaspurakan, Ani being attached to his jurisdiction, and was still in possession of his office in 1048 (Voyage Arch. loc. cit. p. 93).

Note 18 [footnote 4, p373]
I am not aware that any inscription mentions the name of the architect. Sic vos non vobis! But Asoghik tells us that it was Tirdat or Tiridates, an Armenian architect who is reputed to have restored St. Sophia at Constantinople after its partial destruction by an earthquake.

Note 19 [footnote 1, p374]
My measurements of the interior are: Length, 41 feet (of which 15 feet is occupied by the apse measured from the dais to the extremity of the recess); breadth, 26 feet. Texier mentions an adjacent baptistery (?).

Note 20 [footnote 2, p374]
See especially Texier, Muravieff, and Abich's Aus. kauk. Land. vol. i. pp. 198-99.

Note 21 [footnote 1, p375]
The inscription has been tanslated by Brosset (Ruines d'Ani, pp. 145-48).

Note 22 [footnote 2, p375]
Brosset (ibid. p. 15). I was able to verify the date, about which Brosset expresses some doubt (ibid. p. 148).

Note 23 [footnote 3, p375]
For these two ruins see also Abich, op. cit. vol. i. pp. 196-97.

Note 24 [footnote 1, p376]
For these inscriptions see Brosset, Ruines d'Ani, pp. 11-13. He reminds us of the importance of the date 1320 (Arm, era. 769) as being the year after the great carthquake. I must take this opportunity to caution my reader against accepting the tradition mcntioned by Muravieff (ap. Brosset, Voyage Arch. livr. 1, rapp. 3, p. 227) that the little chapel was built in A.D. 1000 by King Gagik I. I may also mention that we could discover no traces of the guardhouse adjacent to the bridge (Ruines d'Ani, p. 10)

Note 25 [footnote 1, p377]
Khanikoff ap. Brosset, Voyage Arch. livr. 1, rapp. 3, p. 138.

Note 26 [footnote 2, p377]
Ibid. p. 138, and Ruines d'Ani, p. 30.

Note 27 [footnote 3, p377]
Ibid. p. 140, and Ruines d'Ani, p. 31.

Note 28 [footnote 4, p377]
Muravieff ap. Brosset, Voyage Arch. loc. cit. p. 129.

Note 29 [footnote 5, p377]
Mr. Marr has published an account of his discoveries of new epigraphical material in Armenia in the Zapiski of the Eastern Section of the Imp. Russian Arch. Society, vol. viii., 1893, pp. 69-103. He contributes four new inscriptions from Ani. I have not been able to find any account of his excavations.

Note 30 [footnote 1, p379]
The interior of the building which forms the subject of my illustration is given by Brosset in plate xiv. of the Atlas to the Ruines d'Ani. The detail and ornament there portrayed do not correspond with reality. The devils are more or less imaginary, and there appears to be only one of them in the actual design, viz, on the south wall, the first pilaster as you enter from the west - in low relief. Brosset styles this interior "a hall in the citadel"; but the following considerations are against this view: - 1. It is oriented east; 2. It obviously had an apse; 3. Above the apse you see the form of a cross sculptured on the face of the arch which still remains.
The bas-reliefs are given by Brosset, plates xxxv. and xxxvii. The former (representing the archer) was found in the valley of the Tsaghkotz with an inscription in Armenian, "Christ have pity on the lady Shushan, thy servant." This personage may be identified with the wife of the Pahlavid Grigor, mother of Vahram.

Note 31 [footnote 1, p380]
This building must be the subject of plate xiii. in Brosset's Atlas to the Ruines d'Ani.

Note 32 [footnote 1, p381]
The rock with the chapel is described by Abich (op. cit. vol. i. p. 192). It was strongly fortified.

Note 33 [footnote 2, p381]
It is not exactly symmetrical, the measurement from west to east being nearly 31 feet.

Note 34 [footnote 1, p382]
Brosset translates, "J'ai construit ce lieu de repos." But it surely cannot refer to the chapel itself, which, as we have seen, has inscriptions of the mother of Aplgharib, and must therefore have been in existence before 1040. Brosset therefore supposes that the restoration of the church is alluded to (Ruines d'Ani, pp. 37 and 106). For a more probable version of the inscription see Alishan, Shirak, p. 53.

Note 35 [footnote 2, p382]
For the inscriptions see Brosset (Voyage Arch. loc. cit. p. 91, and Ruines d'Ani, pp. 36 seq.). Aplgharib was brother to Vahram. I could find no trace of the curious figure found upon one of the windows which Brosset refers to (pp. 38 seq.). On the other hand, I was able to identify the two inscriptions last mentioned.

Note 36 [footnote 3, p382]
Kirakos ap. Dulaurier, Recherches sur la Chron. Arm. p. 280

Note 37 [footnote 4, p382]
Asoghik ap. Brosset, Ruines d'Ani, p. 106.

Note 38 [footnote 1, p383]
Abich confuses the sites of these two monuments in his Reisebriefe (op. cit.).

Note 39 [footnote 2, p383]
Such is the translation of this inscription given by the editor of Aristakes of Lastivert. Brosset appears to have made a palpable error (Ruines d'Ani, p. 21, inscription of Christaphor).

Note 40 [footnote 3, p383]
Probably the inscription of this same Aplgharib given by Brosset (Ruines d'Ani, p.28) belongs to this chapel. It runs thus : - "Under the pontificate of Ter Petros and the reign of Sembat son of Gagik Shahanshah in the year 485 (AD. 1036) I, the Marzpan Aplgharib, son of the prince Grigor, grandson of Apughamir and brother of Vahram and Vasak, constructed at great expense this Surb-Phrkich in the metropolis of Ani." This inscription would establish as a fact that the chapel itself was dedicated to the Redeemer.

Note 41 [footnote 1, p384]
A perfect labyrinth of confusion has been brought into existence by the attribution of the east front of the portal of the church of the Apostles to this castle or palace (see plate xix. of Brosset’s Atlas). Happily I am able to correct the error. It has been instrumental in leading Brosset to assign all the inscriptions found in that church to this castle. The name "palace of the Pahlavids" is purely imaginary.

Note 42 [footnote 1, p385]
Brosset, Ruines d'Ani, p. 51, and plate xxxvi. No. 3 of the Atlas. It has been wrongly attributed to the castle.

Note 43 [footnote 2, p385]
Abich describes this chapel as "a magnificent church in the form of a Greek cross with a central rotunda and four large semicircular niches at the sides" (op. cit. vol. i. p. 190).

Note 44 [footnote 3, p385]
See Brosset (Voyage Arch. livr. 1, rapp. 3, pp. 86, 100, 101, 106, 109; and Ruines d'Ani, pp. 48-52).

Note 45 [footnote 1, p386]
This is the chapel which Abich names "Kirche der Maria Verkundigung" (op. cit. vol. i. p. 193).

Note 46 [footnote 2, p386]
Abich, op. cit. vol. i. p. 199.

Note 47 [footnote 1, p387]
See the Georgian annalist translated by Brosset (Hist. de la Georgie).

Note 48 [footnote 2, p387]
I should be sorry to have to swear to this statement.

Note 49 [footnote 1, p388]
Voyage Arch. livr. 1, rapp. 3, pp. 96, 107, 109-10.

Note 50 [footnote 2, p388]
Telfer, Crimea and Transcaucasia, vol. 1. p. 216. The chamber at Geghard is known as the Rusukna sanctuary, and was completed in A.D. 1288 (Arm. era 737) (ibid.).

Note 51 [footnote 3, p388]
An inscription of A. D. 1215, much mutilated, seems to infer this (Brosset, Voyage Arch. loc. cit. p. 97).

Note 52 [footnote 1, p389]
Brosset, Voyage Arch. loc. cit. p. 98. The dimensions of these various apartments are: -No. 1, length, 29 feet 4 inches; breadth, 29 feet; No. 2, 27 feet by 27 feet 2 inches; No. 3, hall of the synod, 18 1/2 paces by 18 paces. The reader will note that the architects avoided exact squares. In this they were governed by a right instinct.

Note 53 [footnote 1, p390]
Brosset, Voyage Arch. loc. cit. p. 99. Another derivation is from the Greek word for a priest (see M. Prudhomme, note to Aristakes, ch. ii.).

Note 54 [footnote 2, p390]
Asoghik ap. Brosset (Ruines d'Ani, p. 137).

Note 55 [footnote 3, p390]
Ruines d'Ani, p. 137

Note 56 [footnote 4, p390]
Ibid. p. 61.

Note 57 [footnote 5, p390]
Texier (op. cit. p. 112) : - "La façade de cette église (the cathedral) construite avec une simplicité remarquable... peut etre regardée comme le type de l'architecture allemande du moyen age. Il est facile d'expliquer Comment, dans toute cette contrée, on retrouve le dome a toit conique particulier a l'architecture arménienne. En effet, après la prise d'Ani par les Mussulmans, un grand nombre de citoyens abandonnaient la ville..."