Cathedral of Kars
Kars Province, Turkey
Open to visitors
The interior is normally open, possibly ticketed.
Strollie cannot guarantee access — always check before you travel.
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The Cathedral of Kars, built in the mid-10th century by Armenian Bagratid King Abas I, is a church in eastern Turkey whose religious identity has shifted repeatedly across centuries. Originally constructed as an Armenian Apostolic sanctuary known as the Holy Apostles Church, it was converted to a mosque in 1579, then served as a Russian Orthodox and later Armenian cathedral in the 19th and early 20th centuries. In 1993 it was converted once again into a mosque, now called the Kümbet Mosque and integrated into a larger Islamic complex that includes the Evliya Mosque. The building exemplifies Armenian architectural tradition and stands as a palimpsest of the region's contested religious and political history.
Movement
- Type
- church building, mosque, heritage
- Place
- Kars Province, Turkey
This building on
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Location