Kars is a city of striking contrasts: wide Russian-grid boulevards of Tsarist-era stone buildings (a legacy of 1878–1918 Russian rule) fronted by horse carts, and the steppe landscape leading to the Armenian border. Its great attraction is Ani — the 10th-century capital of the Bagratid Armenian kingdom, a walled city of 100,000 on a plateau surrounded on three sides by the Arpaçay gorge.
Sarıkamış ski resort, set in Siberian-like Scots pine forests, has reliable deep-powder snow. Kars gouda-style cheese (kars gravyeri) is the city's most famous produce, sold in shops along the Russian-built main street.
Known for: Ani ruins (medieval Armenian capital) · Russian architecture · Sarıkamış ski resort · Kars gouda cheese · Orhan Pamuk's Snow
- Region
- Eastern Anatolia
- Famous for
- Ani ruins & frontier character
- Best seasons
- Jun–Sep; Dec–Mar ski
- Near
- Armenian border
Kars on the live map
Explore Kars and all of Turkey on the live intelligence map — tap a city node to fly in.
What Kars is known for
Ani spreads across a windswept plateau — a ghostly medieval city of Armenian, Georgian and Seljuk monuments: the Cathedral of Ani (1001 CE), the Church of the Redeemer, Seljuk Palace and Manuchihr Mosque. The site UNESCO-listed in 2016. Back in Kars, the castle, bazaar and cheese shops form a distinctive frontier-city itinerary.
- Ani ruins — UNESCO medieval Armenian city, cathedrals and palaces.
- Sarıkamış ski resort — deep Scots-pine-forest skiing.
- Kars gravyer cheese — local gouda-style aged cheese.
- Russian architecture — Tsarist-era stone streetscapes.
Getting around
Kars has an airport with domestic flights. Ani is 45 km east by car or tour. Sarıkamış is 55 km southwest.
On the platform
Kars is joining Türkiye Gez as we expand into a Turkey-wide city intelligence platform. This guide is the launch foundation — live transport data, an interactive map and deeper neighborhood content roll out city by city, on the same architecture that powers Istanbul today.
Frequently asked questions
About Kars
2The UNESCO-listed Ani ruins (a medieval Armenian city of 100,000), Sarıkamış ski resort, Kars gouda-style cheese and its Tsarist Russian architectural heritage.
Ani is 45 km east of Kars — about 45 minutes by car. Organised day trips run from Kars; there is no regular public transport to the site.