Ani Cathedral

The photograph shows the ruins of Ani Cathedral. Ani was the capital of the medieval Bagratid Armenian kingdom; it now lies in eastern Turkey, on the border with Armenia, near Kars. The cathedral is called the Cathedral of the Holy Mother of God of Ani. After the Seljuks captured the city, it was turned into the Fethiye Mosque.

The cathedral was designed by the Armenian architect Trdat; construction began in 989 and was completed in 1001. It used pointed arches and vaults which, in the opinion of some scholars, may have influenced the development of Gothic architecture. For about half a century the cathedral was the seat of the Catholicos of the Armenian Apostolic Church. Its conical dome collapsed in the earthquake of 1319. In 2016 the ruins of Ani were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

The aerial photograph shows a rectangular building with tall decorative arches on its walls, without its dome and with a grass-covered roof. Behind it are a gorge and green hills.