Western Armenia: On the other side of Masis

featured story: Sedrak Mkrtchyan / PAN Photo Agency

It is night time. You awake with a start because of a loud noise that has come from the street, as if someone is making strange noises using a microphone. Is it a song? What language is it? Is it a human language? You understand in your state of half-sleep that you are hearing the call to namaz. “What? How can this be namaz? I am in Western Armenia, in Kars, my grandfather’s homeland.” And at that moment you realize that the connection has been lost between the memories flowing in your blood and the reality of today.

Ani is a ruined medieval Armenian city-site situated in the Turkish province of Kars, near the border with Armenia

The hills of Sassoun, the central stage of the Armenian epic that gave birth to the nation’s greatest heroes

Aghtamar island, with the Church of the Holy Cross

The bathhouses of Kars. Bearing a typical Byzantine style, the bathhouses were located in the lower part of the fortress, near the river. They are in a state of neglect today, filled with rubbish

A village in Igdir, which is considered one of the poorest regions in modern Turkey

The Armenian city of a thousand and one churches, Ani. This was the capital of the Bagratuni kingdom and once the largest city in the region, with its scattered churches and other buildings. Today, it is finally open to tourists. Guides present it as a ci

The Solukh bridge constructed on the Eastern Euphrates. According to testimonials, this is where the hero Gevorg Chaush was slain

Writing on the wall at the entrance of the tomb of King Sarduri

A view of the fortress of Kars from the bathhouse located below

Icons on the walls of the ruined churches of Ani. Unidentified vandals have disfigured the eyes of the depicted saints

Mt. Ararat, as seen from Igdir. The mountain is strikingly beautiful when seen from Armenia, but the view from Turkey is not particularly attractive

The Urartian fortress of Van, near the present location of the city of Van. The foot of the fortress used to host a large Armenian district called Aygestan, which has now been completely eliminated

A painter sells his work on the shore of Lake Van. Tourists often visit this region and buy souvenirs from the locals

The Berkri waterfall – one of the most beautiful waterfalls in Western Armenia

Decorations on the walls of the Church of the Holy Cross at Aghtamar. The whole church is covered in carvings with Biblical themes. The Holy Cross is the only church in Western Armenia where an Armenian mass is held once a year

Decorations on the walls of the church of Tigran Honents. The wealthy Honents built the church in the 13th Century

Kurdish girls photographed near their house, in the fields of Mush. It is rare to see girls without headscarves, because they are required to wear them everywhere and always

A cross-stone, broken and inverted, near the houses of a Kurdish family in the fields of Mush. The local Kurds often find old, Armenian cross-stones from medieval times, which they usually use as building material

Women cutting grass, Kars, Western Armenia. It is common to see women performing tasks of hard labor in the fields, while the city’s tea houses are filled with men

A women in a hijab on the streets of Erzrum. Erzrum is the largest city in the region, with a population of around 300,000 Turks and Azerbaijanis

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