Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Anni

ANNI, or Ani, the ancient Abnicum, a ruined city of Turkey in Asia, in Armenia, situated about 25 miles E.S.E. of Kars, in a rocky ravine, past which the Arpa - Chai, a tributary of the Aras or Araxes, flows. The private houses of Anni are now little more than heaps of loose stones, but in the ruins of the public buildings there is still ample evidence of the former size and greatness of the city. Several churches, mosques, and a building which was probably the palace, as well as the massive walls of the city, are the most perfect and conspicuous remains at Anni, and exhibit many points of great architectural beauty. Anni was the capital of the Pakradian or Bagratian dynasty of Armenian kings, and under their rule reached the height of its greatness. Alp Arslan captured it in 1064, and handed it over to a tribe of Kurds, from whom it was taken by the Georgians. In 1319 an earthquake completed the misfortunes of the city, reducing it to the state in which it now exists.