Ardesen , Hopa , Artvin , a spectacular road with ascending curves in the middle of impressive mountains , and Ardahan . Arriving in Kars , a city that was part of ancient Roman Armenia and famous for its cathedral-turnedmosque , I spent three days there and visited the ruins of Ani , 48km east of the capital and bordering the Akhurian river , which now forms the Turkish-Armenian border .
Protected to the east by the river and by the Bostanlar valley to the west , the city occupied a strategic position . At the end of the 10th century , it became the capital of Bagratid Armenia , a kingdom
that covered most of present-day Armenia and Turkey . At its peak , it had just over 100,000 inhabitants and it rivaled Baghdad , Cairo , and Constantinople in importance . It was called " the city of 1001 churches " because of its large number of religious buildings ; all of its buildings were among the most technically advanced and artistically pleasing structures of the time .
I spent a whole day marveling around the ruins and fell asleep inside what was once the Holy Mother of God Cathedral . It dates back to 990 A . D . At one point converted into a mosque and then abandoned along with all the buildings that are now the ruins of Ani .
Leaving the next day , I rode along the border with Armenia for Doğubeyazıt and felt the tension there . The landscape with its red mountains is breathtaking . I stopped to see the “ other side ” and identified army fortifications .
The road was wide and new , but very rough . It is the famous E99 that has extraordinarily little traffic and the landscape leaves one speechless .
Stopping several times to take photos of that immense Turkish steppe , with strange houses that
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