Must-see attractions in Kars

  • Kars Castle

    Kars

    Dating from at least 1153, Kars Castle' s hefty, dark-stone walls crown the craggy ridge that dominates the city-centre's northern edge, fronted by a…

  • Kars Museum

    Kars

    Northeast of the centre, just off the road to Ani, the city museum has cultural and archaeological exhibits stretching back to the early Bronze Age,…

  • Kafkaz Cephesi Harp Tarihi Müzesi

    Kars

    This new museum specialising in early 20th-century history is hosted in the heavy arches of an 1803 bastion, a surviving fragment of vast ramparts that…

  • Kars Culture & Art Association

    Kars

    The address is an unpromising paint shop ('Yeni Akçay Kol. Şir.'). However, if you can find him in, the shop's owner is local historian Vedat Akçayöz who…

  • Kümbet Camii

    Kars

    Below Kars Castle, the imposing, basalt Kümbet Camii was built as a church between 932 and 937 when Kars was (briefly) capital of the Bagratuni kingdom of…

  • Beylerbeyi Sarayı

    Kars

    In 1579, Sultan Murad III's regional governor (Lala Mustafa Paşa) built an imposing palace on the southern foreslopes of Kars Castle crag. The structure…

  • Health Directorate Building

    Kars

    On this 1907 building, thick paint somewhat mars the facade of floral motifs and mock columns built in typical Kars' Baltic (ie northern Russian) style.

  • Gazi Ahmet Muhtar Paşa Kultur Evi

    Kars

    One of Kars' most attractive old homes hosts a beautifully presented but all-in-Turkish introduction to Gazi Ahmet Muhtar Paşa, a flamboyantly…

  • Evliya Camii

    Kars

    With an especially attractive north facade, the 16th-century 'Mosque of Saints' was built to commemmorate the 11th-century saint Hasan-i Harakani who…

  • Old Governor's Mansion

    Kars

    Facing a pretty little garden surrounded by further century-old buildings, this proud 1883 mansion was where the 1921 Treaty of Kars was signed, settling…

  • Revenue Office

    Kars

    A three-storey late 19th-century L-shaped building with a long, false-columned facade, this is one of the more impressive pieces of Kars' 'Baltic…

  • Mazlum Ağa Hamam

    Kars

    Pushkin is known to have bathed at this rectangular 18th-century basalt hamam in 1829, which stands near the river below Kars Castle. These days you'll…

  • Ulu Camii

    Kars

    For a great vantage point to soak up the main sights of historic Kars in a single visual sweep, it's hard to beat the forecourt of this 17th-century…

  • Fethiye Camii

    Kars

    This active mosque started life as a 19th-century Russian church, but now sports twin minarets instead of its original onion domes. It's a curious if…

  • Taş Köprü

    Kars

    This attractive basalt bridge that spans the Kars River, below the castle, was built in 1719 replacing a 16th-century original that had been destroyed by…

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