The World Heritage Committee included Friday the Ani Ruins in eastern Turkey on UNESCO’s World Heritage List.

The Ani Ruins are located in the Kars province. It is unclear when Ani was founded but it became the capital city of the Kingdom of Armenia in the 10th century, according to UNESCO’s website.

“From the tenth to fourteenth century, Ani was an important trade city situated on the Silk Route extended from China to Europe. The remains of the outstanding structures belonging to this period testify to a spectacular architectural development, resulting from the blend of eastern and western traditions. The site is crucial to the understanding of trade and settlement within a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural framework during the middle ages,” according to UNESCO.

The 40th session of the World Heritage Committee began on July 10 in Istanbul and will end on July 20.

With this inclusion, the number of sites from Turkey in the World Heritage List increased to 16.

“It is pleasing for Turkey to be included in the World Heritage List again,” Turkish Culture and Tourism Minister Nabi Avci said during his visit in the Sakarya province of the Marmara region.

Source: Anadolu