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Situated on the eastern border of Turkey, across the Akhurian River from Armenia, lies the empty, crumbling site of the once-great metropolis of Ani, known as "the city of a thousand and one churches." Founded more than 1,600 years ago, Ani was situated on several trade routes, and grew to become a walled city of more than 100,000 residents by the 11th century. In the centuries that followed, Ani and the surrounding region were conquered hundreds of times -- Byzantine emperors, Ottoman Turks, nomadic Kurds, Georgians, and Russians claimed and reclaimed the area, repeatedly attacking and chasing out residents. By the 1300s, Ani was in steep decline, and it was completely abandoned by the 1700s. Rediscovered and romanticized in the 19th century, the city had a brief moment of fame, only to be closed off by World War I and the later events of the Armenian Genocide that left the region an empty, militarized no-man's land. The ruins crumbled at the hands of many: looters, vandals, Turks who tried to eliminate Armenian history from the area, clumsy archaeological digs, well-intentioned people who made poor attempts at restoration, and Mother Nature herself. Restrictions on travel to Ani have eased in the past decade, allowing the following photos to be taken.


The Monastery of the Hripsimian Virgins, in the ruins of the city of Ani, Turkey, on April 19, 2011. The monastery is thought to have been built between 1000 and 1200 AD, near the height of Ani's importance and strength. The Akhurian River below acts as the modern border between Turkey and Armenia.



The Virgin's Castle, atop cliffs along the Akhurian River, photographed on June 4, 2013.



Inscription on an exterior wall of the cathedral



The Turkey-Armenia border, on June 19, 2011.



Church of Saint Gregory of Tigran Honents, Ani, on June 19, 2011.



Showing the scale of some of the ruins, an interior shot of the Ani Cathedral, on June 24, 2012.



The ruined church of the Holy Redeemer, seen on February 19, 2010.



A Military warning sign with the Citadel behind, in Ani, on June 8, 2011.



Remains of an ancient bridge below Ani, photographed on June 19, 2011. Armenia is on the right, Turkey on the left.



Ani, as viewed from across the border, in Armenia.



Inside the Cathedral of Ani, on June 4, 2013. Construction of the structure began in 989, completed in either 1001 or 1010. Designed as a domed cruciform church, both the dome and the drum supporting it collapsed in an earthquake in 1319.