Crying wilderness - Ani
The Armenians took part in several dark episodes in history. In 1915 the Armenians would endure maybe the darkest of days in their entire history. The horrible events of the Armenian Genocide.
An Italian historian, traveler and diplomat Luigi Villari in 1905 recounts Ani as follows:
“We walked over one or two brown ridges, and suddenly the walls of Ani came in sight. There they stood, massive piles of masonry extending for nearly a mile, with huge round towers at short intervals, mute testimony to the deeds of the Armenians in the brave days of old.”
"Nowhere, except at Constantinople, have I seen more splendid defences of a mediaeval city. For about two-thirds of a mile they are still standing, and broken fragments of them extend along the whole length of the circumference of the city and descend into the ravine of the Arpa Chai.”
“The marvelous city shows evidence of a building power and architectural skill on the part of the ancient Armenians of the highest order, and enables us to realize that this people, in spite of the lamentable history of the last six centuries, is a nation with a noble past.
Today this spot, where proud kings once dwelt in splendid courts and held sway over prosperous lands and civilized subjects, where public life was active and vigorous, is a crying wilderness."
"A people with such a past and such a present need surely not despair of its future.”
Ani, Eastern Turkey
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Listen here:
Philippe Jaroussky - A Chloris (Opium)
Crying wilderness - Ani
The Armenians took part in several dark episodes in history. In 1915 the Armenians would endure maybe the darkest of days in their entire history. The horrible events of the Armenian Genocide.
An Italian historian, traveler and diplomat Luigi Villari in 1905 recounts Ani as follows:
“We walked over one or two brown ridges, and suddenly the walls of Ani came in sight. There they stood, massive piles of masonry extending for nearly a mile, with huge round towers at short intervals, mute testimony to the deeds of the Armenians in the brave days of old.”
"Nowhere, except at Constantinople, have I seen more splendid defences of a mediaeval city. For about two-thirds of a mile they are still standing, and broken fragments of them extend along the whole length of the circumference of the city and descend into the ravine of the Arpa Chai.”
“The marvelous city shows evidence of a building power and architectural skill on the part of the ancient Armenians of the highest order, and enables us to realize that this people, in spite of the lamentable history of the last six centuries, is a nation with a noble past.
Today this spot, where proud kings once dwelt in splendid courts and held sway over prosperous lands and civilized subjects, where public life was active and vigorous, is a crying wilderness."
"A people with such a past and such a present need surely not despair of its future.”
Ani, Eastern Turkey
-------------------------------------------------------
Listen here:
Philippe Jaroussky - A Chloris (Opium)