Church of Saint Gregory of Tigran Honents

The Church of St Gregory of Tigran Honents (Armenian: Սուրբ Տիգրան Հոնենց եկեղեցի), or Church of Saint Gregory the Illuminator (Armenian: Սուրբ Գրիգոր Լուսավորիչ եկեղեցի) is a medieval religious structure located in Ani, in Turkey's Kars province next to the closed border with Armenia. It was built by the Armenian Tigran Honents under the Zakarids in 1215, according to an inscription in Armenian on the exterior of the church.

The building of the church came at a tumultuous period: in 1064 the city of Ani had been captured by the Seljuks from the Byzantines, who granted it to a Kurdish line of muslim emirs known as the Sheddadids. Then in 1199, the Zakarids, vassals of the Kingdom of Georgia, captured Ani with a combined Georgian and Armenian army. Their reconquest of Ani and a large part of historical Armenia greatly revived the fortunes of the region, essentially thanks to increased trade. The actual extent of the Zakarians' vassalship towards the Georgian crown remains unknown, but it may have been purely nominal, especially since as they adopted "the trappings of both Christian and Muslim royal power", as shown in their adoption of the title "Shahanshah" (king of kings...