Kars, Turkey

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impressive, monotonous landscape consists mainly of grazing pastures, with cattle and sheep farming the primary occupation of the local population. The high steppes of Kars and Ardahan, (up to 2,500m/8,200ft) are dominated in places by volcanoes and divided into four sections by deep hollows. In one of these valleys between the Ardahan and Kars Yaylasi lies the provincial capital of Kars, which was settled by Turks before 130 B.C., but there are many reminders particularly in the architecture of the period of Russian domination before the First World War. The new town is laid out in a chequerboard pattern and many of the houses display the colonial style typical of many Russian cities such as St Petersburg.

The modern town center was planned after 1877 during the Russian occupation. There is still a community of Protestant Germans in the village of Karacaören only a short distance from Kars. They were brought here by the Tsars over a hundred years ago. With little industry to speak of, the region is best known for the manufacture of hand-woven carpets displaying eagle and shield motifs. Many of the local cheese factories owe their origins to the Volga German settlers who moved here in the 19th century

History

The history of Kars is closely linked with the fate of Armenia. Ashot the Iron Man (914-918) expelled the Moslem emirs and opened the way for his brother Abbas I to establish a Bagratid kingdom with Kars as the capital. The town remained the royal seat under the rival Mushegh (962-984) and his successors Abbas and Gagik, when Ashot III (The Merciful, 952-977) moved the capital to Ani. The collapse of Armenia into a number of principalities occurred at around the same time. In 1050 Kars fell to Byzantium, but in 1064 the Seljuk Alp Arslan won control. The majority of the Armenian population fled south to Cilicia. From 1205 to 1585 under Georgian rule Kars enjoyed a degree of prosperity, before falling to the Ottomans. The Kars and Ardahan region belonged to Russia in 1807, 1854-1856 (Crimean War) and again from 1873 to 1921.