ARCHITECT ATLAS
Loading atlas
Cathedral of Ani

Cathedral of Ani

Trdat

Photo: Hansm · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Location
Ani, Kars Province, Turkey
Client / Owner
King Smbat II
Year
Completed 1001
Access
Public
Typology
Spiritual
Style
—

The Cathedral of Ani was designed by Trdat, who also worked on repairing the dome of Hagia Sophia. King Smbat II commissioned it, and Queen Katranide completed it after Smbat's brother Gagik I succeeded him. Work began in 989, and the article dates completion to 1001 or 1010. It is an Armenian domed basilica of polished yellow tuff, with black and red tuff.

It measures 34.3 by 21.9 m, while Murad Hasratyan gives a width of 24.7 m. It was originally about 125 feet (38 m) tall, and the infobox gives 79 feet (24 m) to the base of the dome. Scholars have said its pointed arches and clustered piers influenced Gothic architecture, which Sirarpie Der Nersessian rejected.

After the 1064 Seljuk conquest it became a mosque, then returned to Armenian use. The 1319 earthquake collapsed its conical roof. UNESCO listed the site in 2016, and restoration began in 2019.

Comments

  • Loading comments…
Be kind. Anyone can flag a comment for review.

Sign in

or

Your profile

3 to 24 letters, numbers, underscores or periods. It’s shown with your comments.

Contact us

Questions, corrections or ideas? Your message goes straight to the Architect Atlas owner.

Save to list

    Edit information

    We look the building up on Wikipedia for you. Architect Atlas lists buildings that have their own Wikipedia article: our test for notoriety and our source of truth.

        Typology
        Style (one to three)
        Photo (shown in a 4:3 frame)

        Drag and zoom to frame the building well. New photos are checked before they appear.

        Every change is checked before it goes live: facts against Wikipedia, photos by eye.