I was prevented by the number and ubiquity of the gendarmes from making use of my camera. The only illustration which I am able to offer is a view of the citadel, reproduced from a photograph which has been placed at my disposal by my friend Mr. F. C. Conybeare (Fig. [98]). I should have liked to reproduce the interesting features of the Armenian church, now converted into a temple of the Russian Orthodox profession and serving as the principal resort of the garrison. In Mussulman times it was used as a mosque. There can, I think, be little doubt that this is the same building which was erected by the Armenian monarch of the Bagratid dynasty, Abas, in A.D. 930.[20] The teachers in the Armenian school ascribed it to this prince, but were not certain about the date. I have remarked upon the blackness of its walls from without. The interior has been covered with a yellow buff paint, and its proportions are spoilt by an elaborate altar. It wears an air of comfort and even of luxury, all the ornaments being out of keeping with the austerity of the ancient pile. The form of this church is one I have not seen elsewhere, presenting on plan four semicircular arms with a rectangular projection between each arm. The vaulting of the ceilings above the projections composes with that of the ceilings of the apsidal recesses a group of eight arches. Another monument of the same period is said to be the ruinous castle at the upper end of the wall on the east. The wall on the south has well-nigh disappeared, and what remains is almost lost among the houses. The gate on this side contains an Arabic inscription, and several Armenian crosses are inserted into the adjacent rampart. From the citadel a wall still descends the side of the precipice, and is taken by an archway over the road to the margin of the river. I cannot help thinking that the plan of the place and its essential features have not changed much since the time of the Armenian kings. Sultan Murad III. (1574–1595) is credited with extensive works, but it may be questioned whether they were much more than restorations. A renewal is ascribed to Sultan Selim, but it appears doubtful to which monarch of that name.[21] The days of the fortified town, with its mediæval castle and ramparts, are perhaps already numbered. The Russians will build in the open, where there will be room for their favourite boulevards, although trees are rare at present in Kars. The fortifications will year by year be extended over a larger area, the neighbourhood being sown with volcanic eminences admirably adapted both for the attack and for the defence.
The Armenian inhabitants have a single elementary school, or, rather, one for boys and one for girls. It is housed in the buildings adjacent to the little church of St. Mary, under the citadel at the western extremity of the rock. The teachers simply cowered with fear during my visit. The Russian school dispenses a somewhat higher standard of education, and profits by the disabilities imposed upon its rival. I was shown specimens of the Easter cards which each child had received this year from inmates of schools in France. The little French boy sends some poetry translated into Russian to his Russian contemporary. The girls here received similar presents from French girls. It would appear as if no Russian school within the limits of the Empire had been passed over by the organisers of an act of demonstrative patriotism which, let us hope, is not spontaneous with the young.
[1] Abich, Geologische Forschungen in den kaukasischen Ländern, Vienna, 1882, part ii. pp. 47 seq. Das Plateau von Kars. [↑]
[3] Ptolemy, v. 13, pages 135 and 136 of the folio edition. The identification with one of these towns is generally assumed; but in view of the statement of Evliya, noted below, that in his time there existed three towns of this name, it cannot be regarded as certain. [↑]
[4] τὸ κάστρον τὸ Κάρς, Const. Porphyr. De adm. imp. cap. 44. [↑]
[5] See Chapter XVIII. p. 353 and p. 364; and Saint-Martin, Mémoires sur l’Arménie, vol. i. p. iii. Tsamentav was the name of the appanage received in exchange. It was situated in the Cilician Taurus. [↑]
[6] Koch, Reise im pontischen Gebirge, Weimar, 1846, p. 462. [↑]