Ani is a ruined medieval city, and the former capital of the Bagratid Armenian kingdom, located in the Eastern Anatolia region of the Kars province in present-day Turkey. The Bagratid Kingdom, also known as Bagratid Armenia, was founded by Ashot I Bagratuni of the Bagratuni dynasty around AD 880 following centuries of Abbasid rule. The kingdom emerged as a buffer state between the Byzantine Empire and the Abbasid Caliphate, absorbing several Armenian principalities and the kingdoms of Taron, Vaspurakan, Kars, Khachen and Syunik.
The earliest description of Ani comes from the 5th-6th century Armenian chronicler Ghazar Parpetsi, who gives mention of a hilltop fortress constructed by the Kamsarakan House (one of the Seven Great Houses of Iran closely associated to the Arsacids).