ARMENIAN HERITAGE SITES IN TURKEY AND IRAN

KARS
KarsProvince(Turkish:Karsili,Armenian: Կարսի
նահանգ) is a province of Turkey, located in the
northeasternpartofthecountry.Itsharespartofits
closed border with Armenia. The provincial capital
isthecityofKars.
In ancient times, Kars was part of the province of
AraratintheKingdomofArmenia.Thefirstknown
peoplewerethefollowersofVanand(Վանանդ),for
whom Kars was their main settlement and fortress.
In928,KarsbecamethecapitalofBagratidArmenia.
In968,thecapitalofArmeniawasmovedtoAni,but
Kars remained the capital of the feudal principality
of Vanand. As a result of the Russo-Turkish War of
1877to1878,theprovinceofKarswasincorporated
into the Russian Empire as part of the militarily
administered Kars Oblast and remained so until
1918.
Forashorttime(928-961)Karswasthecapitalofthe
Armenian Bagratid kingdom and it was during this
timethattheCathedral,nowknownastheChurchof
the Apostles, was built. Shortly after the Bagratid
capitalwastransferredtoAni,Karsbecame(in963)
aseparateindependentkingdomknownasVannadthe
Armenian name for the Kars region. This
kingdomwastooutlivethatofAni.
After the Seljuk Turks captured Ani, the last
Armenian king of Kars ceded his city to the
Byzantine Empire in 1064, getting in return the city
of Amasya and lands in northern Cilicia. The
Byzantines were no more successful in defending
KarsthantheywerewithAni,andsoonlostittothe
Turks (in 1071). In 1236 the Mongols occupied the
region. As with other places, they probably gave a
great deal of autonomy to the majority Armenian
population: an Armenian prince is known to have
beengoverningKarsin1284.
ThegradualRussianconquestoftheCaucasusinthe
18 th century, led to an influx of Muslim migrants,
especially Circassians. Kars became a strategic and
heavily fortified border town protecting the Turkish
Empire's eastern frontier and the road to Erzurum.
The Russians occupied Kars in 1828, in 1855 and
againin1877.
AsubstantialpartoftheMuslimpopulationleftafter
1877, choosing not to live under Russian rule. The
Armenians gradually moved into a new district of
European-style buildings built on a grid plan to the
south of the old medieval city, and most of the old
city walls were demolished. There was a large influx
ofArmeniansfromotherpartsofRussiancontrolled
Armenia, as well as Armenians fleeing the
oppressionandmassacresoftheOttomanEmpire.
By 1918 the Turkish army was cutting a swathe of
destruction across the newly declared Republic of
Armenia,capturingKarsinApril1918andreaching
BakuontheCaspianSea.
In November 1920 the Bolsheviks annexed the little
that was left of the Armenian republic. With
Armenia now under Soviet "protection" the Turks
ceased their advance and even withdrew from some
captured territory, including Alexandropol. The
Bolsheviks wanted good relations with Turkey, and
in 1921 they signed the "Treaty of Kars" ceding the
townofKarstoTurkey.