Medieval monuments from empire to nation state : beyond Armenian and Islamic architecture in the South Caucasus (1180–1300)

In Erzurum, a city in northeastern Anatolia, several monuments built for Muslim patrons from the late twelfth to the early fourteenth centuries have survived. Ani, an abandoned medieval city located about 250 km east of Erzurum, is full of churches but also holds two medieval mosques. In the thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries, the two cities were connected by a trade route leading from Iran to the Black Sea, and their place in a closely connected region is apparent in the architecture of this period. Historiography, however, upholds a divide between the two cities. Ani is labeled "Armenian" and its monuments are generally studied together with contemporary structures in today's Armenia, just across the border with Turkey. Erzurum, on the other hand, is placed firmly within the narrative of Islamic architecture in Anatolia. Its monuments are associated with the architecture of the Rum Seljuks, a Muslim dynasty centered in Konya and most powerful in the early to mid-thirteenth century, and their vassals. Discussing monuments in Erzurum, Ani, and Armenia, this article will propose a comparative approach while taking into account historiographical issues that have led to the divided narrative.