The Lost City of Ani

All along the watchtower, princess kept the view,
While all the women came and went; barefoot servants too...
Bob Dylan, All Along The Watchtower, 1967

On a barren plain, on a most north eastern point of present day Turkey, lie the ruins of the lost city of Ani. It fell for the last time sometime around 1064 A.D. It was a strongly fortified, yet cosmopolitan city of over 200,000 people. It was known in ancient chronicles as the city of forty gates and one thousand and one church's! It was no doubt its position on the Silk Road, that was the source of its wealth.  Even though it was strongly fortified it was intellectually an open city for many century's. Along with all the Christian church's there are still remains of a Mosque and a fire temple of uncertain origin. Since big business was going on it would be very interesting to research how many Jewish temples were within the city walls. It is interesting to note that Ani in Hebrew means "I am"! (Right?)

Church of The Mother of God  - Ani...

 The Oracle of Ottawa was shocked that he had never heard of this city and its imperial story! It was recently featured on the front daily page of  Wikipedia sometime over the Christmas holidays last. The Oracle of Ottawa knows for certain that Gibbon did not mention it in The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire! And the Oracle of Ottawa read the whole work and it is quiet surprising that Edward Gibbon missed that awesome story!

If you Google it there is a ton about  the great lost city. There are also some very haunting present day videos that have been shot by recent tourists and posted to You-Tube! Yet it does not turn up in any of my reference books that I keep a large store of in the fortified bunker! And the more you watch those modern video captures, the more you will become entranced by the magic of Ani.

Inside the ruins of Saint Gregory's...

The Oracle of Ottawa can't stop imagining the great caravans of animals that must have stopped and rested in Ani. They would be as long as the eye could see. Easily over one thousand animals under load, not counting the extensive outriders that such a high value load of goods would require. All this over a thousand years ago! It simply boogles the modern mind! And although the Oracle of Ottawa has lived for over a half century this is the first that I have ever heard about it. There is also an extensive cave network in the confines of the lost city, could there be lost works or even original manuscripts hidden away from the sackers and looters? Ani, the city of forty gates and a thousand and one churches....

The magic of the Lost City of Ani! Perhaps a future UNESCO World Heritage site? What a haunting story...