1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Ani

ANI (anc. Abnicum), an ancient and ruined Armenian city, in Russian Transcaucasia, government Erivan, situated at an altitude of 4390 ft., between the Arpa-chai (Harpasus) and a deep ravine. In 961 it became the capital of the Bagratid kings of Armenia, and when yielded to the Byzantine emperor (1046) it was a populous city, known traditionally as the “city with the 1001 churches.” It was taken eighteen years later by the Seljuk Turks, five times by the Georgians between 1125 and 1209, in 1239 by the Mongols, and its ruin was completed by an earthquake in 1319. It is still surrounded by a double wall partly in ruins, and amongst the remains are a “patriarchal” church finished in 1010, two other churches, both of the 11th century, a fourth built in 1215, and a palace of large size.

See Brosset, Les Ruines d’Ani (1860–1861).