Church of the Holy Apostles of Ani

The Church of the Holy Apostles, also Arak’elots (Armenian: Սուրբ Առաքելոց եկեղեցի, Surb Arakelots yekeghets’i), is an important ecclesiastical monument of the ruined city of Ani, modern Turkey, on the border with Armenia.

The church is composed in two parts: the church itself, now largely ruined, and the columned gavit in front of it, remaining in large part.

The remains of the gavit are clearly derived from Seljuk architectural designs.

The church itself was built before 1031, date of a now lost inscription over the south entrance to the church, which was left by Abughamir Pahlavuni, a local Armenian prince. The plan of the church is essentially classical Armenian, forming an inscribed quadriconch, with the four cardinal axes each terminating in an apse. This type of plan was already known in the 6th-7th centuris as a Jvari-type in Georgian and Hripsime-type in Armenian architecture. The church plan is also unique in that it is composed of five domes: four smaller domes in the corner chapels, and one large central dome. This slightly archaising architectural type is typical of earlier periods in Georgia and Armenia, and is found again in the Aghtamar, built...