Archaeological Site of Ani

Churches stand roofless on a lonely plateau at Ani, the ghost of a city that flowered in the 10th and 11th centuries as capital of the Bagratid Armenian kingdom and toll-keeper on a branch of the Silk Road. Byzantines, Seljuks and Georgians ruled it in turn before Mongol raids and a catastrophic earthquake in 1319 began its long abandonment. Its buildings span the region's medieval architecture from the 7th to the 13th century. UNESCO inscribed Ani in 2016.