19/12/2025
Ani, located in modern-day Türkiye, was once known as “the city of 1,001 churches” and home to a population of over 100,000 at its height. Today, this UNESCO World Heritage Site preserves remarkable ruins from its medieval past, including the Church of the Holy Savior (Surp P'rkich, 1035-36), built when Ani was the capital of an Armenian kingdom to house a fragment of the True Cross.
Nearly 900 years after its completion, the church was struck by lightning, splitting the structure in half. One side of the church collapsed, leaving the structure in an extremely fragile and unstable state.
Over the past decade, World Monuments Fund has worked to stabilize and restore the church, reconstructing walls with carefully carved stonework, cataloging hundreds of fallen fragments, and installing structural supports to preserve this remarkable monument and its important medieval wall paintings.
Our work at the Church of the Holy Savior is a joint project with the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism through its General Directorate for Cultural Heritage and Museums.
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World Monuments Fund's work at the Church of the Holy Savior has been made possible, in part, by support from the U.S. Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP), U.S. Embassy Ankara, The Robert W. Wilson Charitable Trust, The J.M. Kaplan Fund, and Tianaderrah Foundation / Nellie and Robert Gipson.
