Kars is located on the territory of Turkey, but this is quite an atypical city for this country. Kars, founded in ancient times, was the capital of Armenia, one of the important trade and cultural centers of Byzantium, and in the 19th century - the permanent battleground of Russia and the Ottoman Turkey. The city, the planning of which was created during the times of the Russian Empire, retains the features of both Armenian and Turkish culture. Such a variety invariably attracts travelers who are greedy for historical sights to this city of Kars.
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How to get here
The nearest airport to Kars is in Erzurum, where flights from Istanbul arrive. From Erzurum to Kars, the distance is about 200 kilometers, and the path by car (along the E80 and E691) will take about 3-5 hours.
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A paragraph of history
There are suggestions that Kars was founded in the far 4 th century, but the constant mention of the city, found in Byzantine and Armenian sources, dates back to the 9th century. Kars played a huge role for the state, economic and social life of Armenia in the Middle Ages. Kars was the main city of the Ayrarat province, the trade dynamically developed here, as the most important trade routes of that time passed through it.
Along with trade, all kinds of handicrafts developed in Kars and soon the city became a real center of masters. Kars was the capital of Armenia from 928 to 961 years, until the time when King Ashot III moved the capital to Ani. But despite this, the city does not lose its importance, and in the period from the 10th to the 11th centuries it is the capital of Armenian Vanadsky, or as it was also called by the name of the capital, the Kars kingdom, where the younger branch of the Armenian royal family Bagratidov rules.
In the 16th century, the city was conquered by the Turks, and it will become a place of spread of Turkish influence throughout the Transcaucasus .Kars was one of the main targets of the struggle during the numerous Russian-Turkish wars .In 1807, Kars was assaulted by Russian troops, but ended unsuccessfully .In 1828 the fortress of Kars was taken by Russian regiments under the leadership of the outstanding military leader Count Paskevich .In the time of the severe and unsuccessful Crimean campaign (1855), the Turkish garrison of the city under the command of Ismail Pasha was kept under siege for five months, but eventually capitulated to .During the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878, Kars was considered one of the most impregnable Turkish fortresses .But thanks to the rapid onslaught of the Russians, the fortress capitulated, and after that under the San Stefano peace treaty became a member of the Russian Empire .From 1878 to 1917 Kars was the center of the Kara region .The city and its environs were inhabited in large numbers by settlers from the internal regions of Russia .
After the death of the Russian Empire in 1918, Kars and the Batum and Ardahan districts leave for Turkey. The truth is not for long - after the end of World War I, in which Turkey was defeated, the city is occupied by British troops. After it is handed over to the Armenian Republic, but already in 1920 Kars is again occupied by Turkish troops. According to the Kars Treaty of 1921, which Armenia was forced to sign under the pressure of the RSFSR, Kars departs to Turkey, in which the city is still a member.
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Entertainment, excursions and attractions Karsa
Kars stretched on the shore of a small river called Kars, on a steep highland of volcanic origin, surrounded by a very beautiful and not quite normal for this area of nature. Landscapes around the city seem to remind us that Kars has an ancient Christian history. As you approach the city mosques are encountered less and less, and the ancient Armenian churches and cemeteries, as well as the ruins of fortresses, are increasingly.
In Kars, the Russian influence is immediately felt - the urban layout of most residential and administrative quarters was created just at the time when Kars was part of the Russian Empire. All the structures of that era are built in the style of neoclassicism, which dominates at that time in Russia, although some elements are also taken from medieval Armenian architecture. Kars, by the way, is sometimes called twin brother of Yerevan, so these two cities are similar.
Undoubtedly it is impossible not to visit the ancient citadel of Kars, founded in the distant 1152, but destroyed during the invasion of Tamerlane. The fortress was rebuilt in 1579, and since then it has witnessed numerous battles and sieges. The kind that we see today, the fortress acquired after 1855.
Not far from the citadel is the ancient church of the Holy Apostles, built in 930-937 as a cathedral. After the capture of the city, the Ottomans, as usual, were converted into a mosque, but after the liberation of Kars by Russian troops (in 1877) the cathedral was again consecrated. And until 1921, until Kars again fell under Turkish domination, services were held in the cathedral.
Another Christian church that fell victim to the old Turkish tradition, the Russian Orthodox Church of Alexander Nevsky, rebuilt and converted into a mosque called the Fethiye Mosque. The bridge of Tash-Kopri, or the Stone Bridge, built from the basalt is noteworthy.
Fans of archeology and ethnography will be interested to visit the Kars Museum, which has a fairly wide collection of exhibits. Surroundings of Kars are also rich in ancient sights, there are many churches, monasteries, old cemeteries. Nearby is the ruins of the medieval capital of Armenia, the city of Ani.