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Eastern Anatolia (Kars, Van, Erzurum)
Eastern Anatolia (Kars, Van, Erzurum)
A City You Can Taste
A rugged, high-altitude region that served as a massive cultural bridge and
a defensive frontier.
- Early/Prehistoric (Pre-3000 BC):
- Kura-Araxes Culture: Early trans-Caucasian herders and metalworkers who spread across the eastern highlands.
- BC (3000 BC – 1 BC):
- Urartians: Centered around Lake Van. They were rivaled only by the Assyrians and were master engineers, known for immense stone fortresses and intricate metalwork.
- Early Armenians & Persians: Fought over and settled the eastern frontiers, blending local traditions with Achaemenid Persian influence.
- CE / After BC (1 CE – 1300 CE):
- Bagratuni Kingdom: A thriving medieval Armenian kingdom that built the magnificent city of Ani (near modern Kars), known as the “City of 1001 Churches.”
- Saltukids & Early Turkish Beyliks: The first wave of Turkic tribes to establish principalities in the east following the Battle of Manzikert.
