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(light airy music)
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As a reporter, I've traveled the Middle East
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for many years.
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It's an area that has always fascinated me.
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But in my work, I've mainly covered its war zones,
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its crises, and its tragedies.
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This journey, which takes me down the Silk Road
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in the footsteps of Marco Polo, gives me the opportunity
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of exploring the great historical and cultural
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significance of this part of the world,
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its ancient melting pot of peoples and civilizations
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that have contributed so much to our own.
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(light music)
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Asia Minor, or Little Asia as it was called by the Romans,
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was, for the Turks, Anatolia, which literally means
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"The place of the rising sun."
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In other words, the East, which is where Marco Polo
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and the other traders on the Silk Road were headed.
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(birds tweeting)
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Several of the biggest caravanserais to be found
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along our routes, approximately 12000 kilometers,
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are in Anatolia.
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For example, the 13th-century Sultan Han caravanseray,
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built by the soldier Turks in the province of Cappadocia,
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right in the middle of the country.
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(light string music)
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Since caravans were a valuable source of income,
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the soldier Turks did everything
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they could to incite traveling merchants to take
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their portion of the Silk Road across Anatolia.
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One way they did this was offer them three days in a row
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of free lodging in caravanserais like this one.
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They even went as far as to set up an insurance system.
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If a merchant had his goods stolen along a certain segment
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or if one of his animals died, he was reimbursed
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for the goods or for the animal.
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(light string music)
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Originally from Central Asia, the Turkish
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soldier-sultans ruled over a large part of Persia
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and then Asia Minor up until the 12th century.
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They were former nomads who became masters of an empire,
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and they learned the importance of trade from the Iranians.
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Measuring a total of 4500 square meters,
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the Sultan Hani caravanseray was built by al-Dimashqi,
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a Syrian architect.
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(vocal music)
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The use of growing vaults and red vaults shows the influence
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of Western architecture in this area
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throughout the period of the Crusades.
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Although vulnerable to invasion, Cappadocia was also
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a region where roots and empires converged,
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a major crossroads for the civilizations
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of the ancient world.
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(shoes crunching in snow)
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Playing right in the middle of Anatolia
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north of the Torres Mountains, the region
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of Cappadocia had a strategic location on the caravan route
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that linked the Mediterranean to the East.
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This region was first controlled by the Hittites,
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then by the Persian Empire, the Roman Empire,
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Byzantine Empire, before it was sacked by
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the Mongol warriors and then annexed by the Ottoman Turks.
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(horse trotting)
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Considered one of the most beautiful regions
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in Turkey, Cappadocia continues to attract
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hordes of tourists who come in particular to visit
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its stunning rock formations called Fairy Chimneys,
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which are situated around the village of Goreme.
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Taklum, a small Arabian thoroughbred mare,
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provides a great way to explore the maze of Chimneys,
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which were created from very friable
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sedimentary rock deposits as a result of erosion
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by wind, rain and frost.
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From time immemorial, the inhabitants of the region
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have used the area's unique geology
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to create cave dwellings.
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These naturally carved or manmade excavations
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also house some of the oldest churches in the world.
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After being forgotten for centuries,
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or as turned into stables, hundreds of rock-cut churches
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were rediscovered in the 1950s by a French Jesuit priest
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named Guillaume de Jerphanion.
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The priest excesses have created an association
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called The Friends of Cappadocia, which is overseen
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by Ahmet Diler.
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How are these strange rock
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formations connected to the many churches found
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in the Valley of Goreme?
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[Diler, Translated] We might say that Cappadocia
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combines the work of nature and the work of human beings.
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It is even said that the Hittites dug and used parts
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of the underground cities.
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So it goes very, very far back.
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Some cave dwellings in the area
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were used by the Zoroastrians.
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The fire worshipers who came from Iran.
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The fire worshipers, that's right.
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The Persians came here and they even
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gave the region its name, Cappadocia.
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In ancient Persian, Cappadocia means
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"The land of beautiful horses."
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The Zoroastrians, the Medes, the Hittites, and then?
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Then the churches.
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The first Christians settled here and started digging.
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At first, the chapels were quite small.
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The ceilings in the beginning were flat,
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with crosses carved into them because there was a real cult
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associated with the cross.
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Later on, the Christians added the paintings,
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barrel-vaulted structures, and frescoes that we find
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in many of the churches in Cappadocia.
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(birds tweeting)
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(light music)
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This is such a strange place,
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such a strange city to find monasteries and houses.
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Was there also a defensive or secretive aspect to it?
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The hermits were the first Christians
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to come here.
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They lived in seclusion in the Cappadocian cones,
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called Fairy Chimneys.
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Below, they had a little chapel.
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Their sleeping quarters were above,
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and around it, a vineyard.
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Later, the Cappadocian fathers would try to group
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the secluded hermits together in order to found
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a cenobitic community.
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Cenobitic, derived from the ancient Greek words
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"Koines" and "Bios," means "life in common."
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The cenobitic rules are basically the rules
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that regulate monastery life.
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This type of monastic organization originated
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in the East and spread to Europe in the Middle Ages.
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(light music)
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Why did the hermits
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and then the monks choose
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such bizarre locations to build their cells or monasteries,
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for example, with the doors situated 10 meters
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above the ground?
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The purpose was, in fact, to conceal themselves
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because the area was often invaded,
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often raided by the Arabs.
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So they made narrow tunnels leading to
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the sleeping quarters or the chapel,
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which could then be blocked off with a millstone
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or another object.
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Since the valleys in Cappadocia are quite steep,
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they could seclude themselves, as well as congregate
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in the monasteries or the churches in Goreme.
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The area containing the most beautiful rock
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churches of Goreme has been turned into a national park,
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and is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site,
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an entire monastery and a nun's convent concealed
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among the cliffs.
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In addition to the churches and monk cells,
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other highlights include this refractory,
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with its table and benches sculpted into the rock.
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(light music)
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Built into the limestone and then painted,
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this magnificent fresco, dating from the 11th century,
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depicts various scenes from the Bible.
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In the apse, we see the figure of the Archangel Michael
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holding the orb of the Earth in the form of a ball
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decorated with a little cross.
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This is a symbol of power, similar to the orbs
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that Charlemagne or the Byzantine emperors
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often hold in their hands.
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Can we also find traces
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of how Cappadocian culture and customs might have traveled
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up and down the Silk Road?
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There are geometric patterns in the architecture
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of the churches that are also found on the fronts of houses.
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We can see the same pattern in the kilims, carpets
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that are flat-woven, a weaving method that has been used
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since time immemorial.
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(light string music)
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If Ahmet brings up kilims, it's not by chance.
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When he's not looking after old churches,
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Ahmet is, in fact, selling Cappadocian carpets.
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He comes from a family of weavers, and has become
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a specialist in the history of the designs
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found in the carpets.
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Ahmet, can we say that carpets, and in particular,
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the kilim, originated here in Anatolia?
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That's right, between Konya and Cappadocia,
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in the Neolithic site of Catalhoyuk.
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So about how long ago?
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6500 B.C.
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So could the kilim possibly be the oldest kind
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of carpet we know?
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It's the oldest form of weaving.
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And in terms of the motifs on the kilims,
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do they spread to other places along the Silk Road?
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For example, are there traditional designs from this area
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that, for some unknown reason, pop up hundreds or thousands
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of kilometers away from here?
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Human instinct and weaving methods create certain forms.
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Forms that reappear, as in Plato?
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Certain forms that reappear that may be found
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in Africa, in South America, or in Anatolia.
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People spontaneously come up with the same forms?
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Sometimes, yes, the same forms.
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Now, that's interesting.
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And they also have a meaning.
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If we're talking about kilims, for instance,
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there are three recurring themes that we see all the time.
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First of all, female fertility, which is associated
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with the motif called "Hands on the Hips."
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In Turkish we say, "Elibelinde."
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It's a geometrical form that suggests a head
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and a body with the hands bent.
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(upbeat music)
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A second motif that we very often find
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is the Ear of Wheat, which is related to the theme
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of the fertility of nature.
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Another subject of concern for people was protection.
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Protecting against diseases, bad weather, earthquakes,
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any sort of disaster that can still occur even today.
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A typical example of this is the eye motif,
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which guards against the Evil Eye,
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and it's found everywhere in Anatolia,
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so we also put protective signs on kilims.
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These amulets against the Evil Eye,
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called Nazar Boncugu, date back to the early Turkic people,
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who were originally nomads who roamed the Step
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and worshiped Tengri, the God of the Blue Sky.
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(dramatic music)
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The heirs to those nomadic ancestors are to be found
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in the mystical Alevi-Bektashi Order.
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A very powerful but generally rather secret community,
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the Alevi are thought to represent nearly 20 percent
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of the Turkish population, or at least 15 million people.
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It was the religious order of the jannissaries,
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the elite fighting core of the Ottoman Empire.
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The Alevi are followers of Ali,
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the prophet Muhammad's son-in-law.
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And that's close to the Shia branch of Islam.
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But they've inherited many Shamanic practices and beliefs
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from the Turkic nomads of the Steps.
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They don't pray in mosques, but rather in cemevi,
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or houses of assembly, consider the
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Christian Bible, the Jewish Torah
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and the book of Psalms as sacred texts
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just like the Quran.
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The spritual leader of the Alevi is a Sayyid,
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a descendant of the prophet,
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with certain aspects of Buddhism also incorporated
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into their beliefs.
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Their prayer in the form of dance, the Sema,
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symbolizes the movements of the universe.
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(string music)
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The Sema is a religious dance
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to music in which the difference between the
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earth and the sky, matter and spirituality,
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men and women disappears.
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It's a form of religious practice.
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You say the ceremony symbolizes equality
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between the sky and the earth, between men and women.
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Is that really true among the Alevi and the Bektashi?
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The Alevi and Bektashi believe there is no difference
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00:12:48,740 --> 00:12:50,460
between men and women.
261
00:12:50,460 --> 00:12:53,010
Everyone has the same status.
262
00:12:53,010 --> 00:12:55,530
Of course, within the family structure,
263
00:12:55,530 --> 00:12:58,230
women and men have different tasks.
264
00:12:58,230 --> 00:12:59,833
They are divided up differently.
265
00:13:00,740 --> 00:13:03,980
Our life is collective, but women are not oppressed
266
00:13:03,980 --> 00:13:05,123
and not excluded.
267
00:13:09,140 --> 00:13:10,610
Your movement is both a mystical
268
00:13:10,610 --> 00:13:12,640
and a socially active movement that leans
269
00:13:12,640 --> 00:13:14,880
very much to the left in Turkish politics.
270
00:13:14,880 --> 00:13:16,923
How do you reconcile these two extremes?
271
00:13:19,390 --> 00:13:21,800
Perhaps for the first time in the world,
272
00:13:21,800 --> 00:13:24,363
at the time of Haji Bektash Veli,
273
00:13:25,860 --> 00:13:28,840
we can say that people experience collective life,
274
00:13:28,840 --> 00:13:31,650
community life, social life, respectively
275
00:13:31,650 --> 00:13:32,563
in the right way.
276
00:13:35,490 --> 00:13:37,220
Everyone took what they needed
277
00:13:37,220 --> 00:13:38,973
and brought back any surplus.
278
00:13:39,950 --> 00:13:43,510
So it was all distributed to the Alevi-Bektashi
279
00:13:43,510 --> 00:13:45,763
and to people in need around the world.
280
00:13:49,240 --> 00:13:50,810
The belief is that salvation
281
00:13:50,810 --> 00:13:52,560
cannot be obtained alone.
282
00:13:52,560 --> 00:13:55,420
Salvation can only be obtained together
283
00:13:55,420 --> 00:13:57,830
and it's not only for human beings.
284
00:13:57,830 --> 00:14:00,560
The Alevi-Bektashi believe that respect
285
00:14:00,560 --> 00:14:02,350
should be given not only to humans
286
00:14:02,350 --> 00:14:05,633
but also to trees, to all living beings.
287
00:14:07,890 --> 00:14:10,323
We do not kill any living thing deliberately.
288
00:14:11,620 --> 00:14:14,020
According to our beliefs, we never prune
289
00:14:14,020 --> 00:14:16,450
any tree without permission.
290
00:14:16,450 --> 00:14:19,050
If we cut down a tree, it is necessary
291
00:14:19,050 --> 00:14:21,633
for us to plant another one to take its place.
292
00:14:23,011 --> 00:14:26,594
(string music and singing)
293
00:14:33,982 --> 00:14:35,550
What's the meaning of the dances you do
294
00:14:35,550 --> 00:14:36,463
during the Sema?
295
00:14:38,850 --> 00:14:41,420
We see the Creator in everything,
296
00:14:41,420 --> 00:14:43,810
sometimes in the cranes, when we are in a certain
297
00:14:43,810 --> 00:14:47,363
state of mind and the dayi, the songs talk about it.
298
00:14:49,460 --> 00:14:51,910
There is the flapping of the wings of the cranes.
299
00:14:52,830 --> 00:14:55,110
We take three steps in the name of God,
300
00:14:55,110 --> 00:14:56,920
Mohammed and Ali.
301
00:14:56,920 --> 00:14:59,483
On the path toward God, Mohammed is our guide.
302
00:15:05,530 --> 00:15:07,310
The Alevi have long had the reputation
303
00:15:07,310 --> 00:15:09,040
of being a powerful, progressive force
304
00:15:09,040 --> 00:15:11,270
in Turkish society, but today, they're viewed
305
00:15:11,270 --> 00:15:13,650
with suspicion by the governing Islamist Party,
306
00:15:13,650 --> 00:15:15,660
led by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
307
00:15:22,170 --> 00:15:24,420
Rising to the east of the Anatolian plateau
308
00:15:24,420 --> 00:15:25,853
are the Caucasus Mountains.
309
00:15:28,380 --> 00:15:30,360
At the far end of Anatolia, near the border
310
00:15:30,360 --> 00:15:32,993
with present-day Armenia, lies the city of Kars.
311
00:15:34,000 --> 00:15:36,640
At 1700 meters above sea level, in an area
312
00:15:36,640 --> 00:15:39,026
populated by the Kurdish people of the mountains,
313
00:15:39,026 --> 00:15:41,270
it was for a long time an object of dispute
314
00:15:41,270 --> 00:15:43,430
between the Turks and czarist Russia.
315
00:15:43,430 --> 00:15:45,270
There are still remnants of Russian architecture
316
00:15:45,270 --> 00:15:47,770
in the city, as well as former Armenian churches
317
00:15:47,770 --> 00:15:48,863
turned into mosques.
318
00:15:52,130 --> 00:15:54,030
Prosperous caravans have always gone hand-in-hand
319
00:15:54,030 --> 00:15:55,730
with prosperous empires.
320
00:15:55,730 --> 00:15:57,370
In fact, when the Silk Road was at its height
321
00:15:57,370 --> 00:15:59,370
in the first century, the Roman Empire
322
00:15:59,370 --> 00:16:01,970
was at its height in the West, while on the Eastern end,
323
00:16:01,970 --> 00:16:04,460
the Han empire was at its height in China.
324
00:16:04,460 --> 00:16:06,695
Over the centuries, there was also the Pax Mongolica
325
00:16:06,695 --> 00:16:08,860
during the period of the Mongol empire,
326
00:16:08,860 --> 00:16:11,000
which controlled an entire chunk of Asia.
327
00:16:11,000 --> 00:16:13,150
Then there was the Ottoman Empire of the Turks,
328
00:16:13,150 --> 00:16:16,220
the largest of all, stretching from Hungary to Mecca,
329
00:16:16,220 --> 00:16:18,300
from Algiers up to here, to Kars,
330
00:16:18,300 --> 00:16:19,730
on the border with Persia.
331
00:16:19,730 --> 00:16:21,300
But unfortunately for the Turks, when they were
332
00:16:21,300 --> 00:16:23,550
ruling over this vast territory, the Europeans
333
00:16:23,550 --> 00:16:25,710
found a way to bring back spices from the East
334
00:16:25,710 --> 00:16:27,503
by going around Africa by boat.
335
00:16:30,430 --> 00:16:32,680
The establishment of the great maritime trade routes
336
00:16:32,680 --> 00:16:34,300
of the beginning of the 16th century,
337
00:16:34,300 --> 00:16:36,540
thus dealt a fateful blow to the Silk Road
338
00:16:36,540 --> 00:16:38,770
and caused cosmopolitan cities like Kars
339
00:16:38,770 --> 00:16:41,540
to decline and become mere garrison towns.
340
00:16:41,540 --> 00:16:43,110
But there are many cultural influences
341
00:16:43,110 --> 00:16:45,920
from the Silk Road that persist in Turkish culture.
342
00:16:45,920 --> 00:16:47,690
The Turkic peoples originally came from
343
00:16:47,690 --> 00:16:50,050
Eastern Siberia, not far from China,
344
00:16:50,050 --> 00:16:51,640
and their migration routes paralleled
345
00:16:51,640 --> 00:16:52,883
those of the caravans.
346
00:16:54,110 --> 00:16:56,770
The venerable Kurdish luthier, Sali Sahen,
347
00:16:56,770 --> 00:16:58,270
still makes most of the instruments
348
00:16:58,270 --> 00:16:59,780
that come from central Asia.
349
00:16:59,780 --> 00:17:03,240
The saz, the oud, the zither are stringed instruments
350
00:17:03,240 --> 00:17:04,193
from the Silk Road.
351
00:17:05,180 --> 00:17:06,850
How did you become a luthier and how did you
352
00:17:06,850 --> 00:17:09,980
learn to play the saz?
353
00:17:09,980 --> 00:17:12,930
I learned to play the saz from my father.
354
00:17:12,930 --> 00:17:15,840
He became interested in the saz and in folk songs
355
00:17:15,840 --> 00:17:17,043
when he was very young.
356
00:17:18,400 --> 00:17:20,220
We learned to play music from our father.
357
00:17:20,220 --> 00:17:22,493
My teacher was my father.
358
00:17:24,520 --> 00:17:25,353
How do you make a saz?
359
00:17:25,353 --> 00:17:27,293
What kind of wood do you use?
360
00:17:28,310 --> 00:17:31,923
In this area, the saz is made from the mulberry tree.
361
00:17:32,780 --> 00:17:34,993
The best is carved mulberry.
362
00:17:36,251 --> 00:17:38,090
A saz of the highest quality is made
363
00:17:38,090 --> 00:17:40,033
from wood that's allowed to age.
364
00:17:41,610 --> 00:17:43,720
In other words, after the body of the instrument
365
00:17:43,720 --> 00:17:46,069
is finished, you have to wait three or four years
366
00:17:46,069 --> 00:17:48,447
before moving on to the final phase
367
00:17:48,447 --> 00:17:51,087
and being able to play it.
368
00:17:51,087 --> 00:17:53,670
(string music)
369
00:17:58,730 --> 00:18:00,770
If the saz is typically Anatolian,
370
00:18:00,770 --> 00:18:02,860
how did the instruments that are related to it
371
00:18:02,860 --> 00:18:04,160
travel down the Silk Road?
372
00:18:06,026 --> 00:18:09,260
The saz comes to us from Central Asia,
373
00:18:09,260 --> 00:18:12,460
from countries like Iran, Azerbaijan,
374
00:18:12,460 --> 00:18:14,063
Georgia and Turkmenistan.
375
00:18:15,640 --> 00:18:17,570
The city of Kars is the city where it
376
00:18:17,570 --> 00:18:19,543
originally came from in Turkey.
377
00:18:20,380 --> 00:18:22,963
Then from Kars, our instruments spread to Europe.
378
00:18:25,900 --> 00:18:28,318
This is because some 20 civilizations settled
379
00:18:28,318 --> 00:18:31,323
in Kars as they moved westward through Turkey.
380
00:18:33,300 --> 00:18:35,940
Those civilizations left their culture,
381
00:18:35,940 --> 00:18:39,423
their music and their traditions in our city.
382
00:18:40,358 --> 00:18:42,525
(singing)
383
00:18:52,729 --> 00:18:53,840
You're a luthier, a musician
384
00:18:53,840 --> 00:18:55,500
and you're also a poet.
385
00:18:55,500 --> 00:18:57,030
That's why they call you "sher."
386
00:18:57,030 --> 00:18:59,430
Where do you get the inspiration for your poems?
387
00:19:01,600 --> 00:19:05,270
When I compose music, the words for folk songs,
388
00:19:05,270 --> 00:19:06,860
it's a way for me to keep the culture
389
00:19:06,860 --> 00:19:10,173
of our region and the traditions of the past alive.
390
00:19:11,710 --> 00:19:13,877
(singing)
391
00:19:15,680 --> 00:19:19,280
Is this love poem, "My Doe" about a symbolic
392
00:19:19,280 --> 00:19:21,453
woman or a woman who actually exists?
393
00:19:23,100 --> 00:19:25,800
That's a very good question and I can answer
394
00:19:25,800 --> 00:19:27,590
it very easily.
395
00:19:27,590 --> 00:19:29,190
Before, according to our customs,
396
00:19:29,190 --> 00:19:32,270
men and women could not openly express their feelings.
397
00:19:32,270 --> 00:19:34,780
It was a tradition connected with the Silk Road.
398
00:19:34,780 --> 00:19:37,440
You couldn't tell the person you loved your feelings.
399
00:19:37,440 --> 00:19:40,610
You had to use an intermediary, a go-between.
400
00:19:40,610 --> 00:19:44,410
So I use the doe here in place of the person I love.
401
00:19:44,410 --> 00:19:45,890
I pretend I'm talking to a doe
402
00:19:45,890 --> 00:19:48,133
so that my feelings are not revealed.
403
00:19:50,499 --> 00:19:52,666
(singing)
404
00:19:58,890 --> 00:20:02,000
I'd have been very sad if I hadn't ever played the saz.
405
00:20:02,000 --> 00:20:03,990
If I were born into the world again,
406
00:20:03,990 --> 00:20:05,057
I would play the saz.
407
00:20:06,210 --> 00:20:08,793
(string music)
408
00:20:21,760 --> 00:20:23,700
It was near Kars that the former kings
409
00:20:23,700 --> 00:20:25,890
of Armenia chose to establish their capital
410
00:20:25,890 --> 00:20:27,943
despite the extremely harsh climate.
411
00:20:29,540 --> 00:20:32,020
This windswept step takes us to Ani,
412
00:20:32,020 --> 00:20:33,780
which lies on the border between Turkey
413
00:20:33,780 --> 00:20:35,063
and present-day Armenia.
414
00:20:35,920 --> 00:20:37,670
Once a republic of the Soviet Union,
415
00:20:37,670 --> 00:20:40,193
Armenia gained its independence in 1991.
416
00:20:43,420 --> 00:20:46,060
It's 15 degrees Celsius below zero this morning,
417
00:20:46,060 --> 00:20:48,380
but that doesn't stop Hussein, an old Kurdish
418
00:20:48,380 --> 00:20:50,910
shepard and his kangal, a guardian dog
419
00:20:50,910 --> 00:20:52,880
trained to fend off the wolves in the area,
420
00:20:52,880 --> 00:20:55,010
from going out with the herd.
421
00:20:55,010 --> 00:20:57,170
A very large Armenian population once lived
422
00:20:57,170 --> 00:20:58,460
everywhere in this region
423
00:20:58,460 --> 00:21:01,060
until the genocide of 1915, in which more
424
00:21:01,060 --> 00:21:03,380
than one million people were killed.
425
00:21:03,380 --> 00:21:05,120
At the time, in the middle of World War I,
426
00:21:05,120 --> 00:21:07,840
the Turkish regime suspected its Armenian minority
427
00:21:07,840 --> 00:21:10,150
of treason and incited the Kurdish tribes
428
00:21:10,150 --> 00:21:11,983
of the Caucauses to go after them.
429
00:21:13,020 --> 00:21:15,040
Turkey refuses to consider what happened
430
00:21:15,040 --> 00:21:17,010
as a genocide and today, relations between
431
00:21:17,010 --> 00:21:19,260
Turkey and Armenia are still strained
432
00:21:19,260 --> 00:21:22,060
and the border between the two countries remains closed.
433
00:21:23,090 --> 00:21:26,040
The ancient Armenian capital, Ani, is situated
434
00:21:26,040 --> 00:21:28,040
just a few meters away from this border,
435
00:21:28,900 --> 00:21:30,890
but it lies by the terrible truth of history
436
00:21:30,890 --> 00:21:31,963
on the Turkish side.
437
00:21:33,680 --> 00:21:35,730
Once a bustling market town on the Silk Road,
438
00:21:35,730 --> 00:21:38,640
it was ravaged by Tamerlane in the 14th century
439
00:21:38,640 --> 00:21:41,160
and in the end, completely abandoned.
440
00:21:41,160 --> 00:21:44,720
It stands as a witness to the great kingdom of Armenia.
441
00:21:44,720 --> 00:21:47,450
Allied with the Roman Empire, then the Byzantine Empire,
442
00:21:47,450 --> 00:21:49,570
then with the crusaders and the Mongols,
443
00:21:49,570 --> 00:21:51,770
Armenia was the first state to officially convert
444
00:21:51,770 --> 00:21:54,520
to Christianity at the beginning of the fourth century.
445
00:21:59,060 --> 00:22:01,170
The bridge built over the Akhurian River,
446
00:22:01,170 --> 00:22:03,640
a river that still serves as the border today,
447
00:22:03,640 --> 00:22:05,570
made Ani a very important crossing point
448
00:22:05,570 --> 00:22:06,553
on the Silk Road.
449
00:22:07,680 --> 00:22:10,210
The Armenians were wealthy merchants and traders.
450
00:22:10,210 --> 00:22:12,460
They were also known to be mercenaries hired to protect
451
00:22:12,460 --> 00:22:15,017
the caravans, says Turkish art historian,
452
00:22:15,017 --> 00:22:17,700
Elsmen Elgoustan, who is part of the conservation
453
00:22:17,700 --> 00:22:18,750
program for the city.
454
00:22:22,860 --> 00:22:24,890
In its hey day, how many people were there in Ani?
455
00:22:24,890 --> 00:22:27,093
How many caravanserais and churches?
456
00:22:29,670 --> 00:22:33,800
In the middle ages, in the period around the year 960,
457
00:22:33,800 --> 00:22:35,460
we're speaking of a population of close
458
00:22:35,460 --> 00:22:37,363
to 100,000 inhabitants.
459
00:22:38,290 --> 00:22:40,320
During that time, it's estimated that Ani
460
00:22:40,320 --> 00:22:42,263
had a higher population than Istanbul.
461
00:22:44,560 --> 00:22:47,163
It was called the City of 1001 Churches.
462
00:22:48,720 --> 00:22:51,313
It was also said at the time that Ani was the world,
463
00:22:51,313 --> 00:22:53,463
but the world was not Ani.
464
00:22:57,320 --> 00:23:00,030
We now find only one caravansery here dating
465
00:23:00,030 --> 00:23:02,190
from the time of the Seljuks.
466
00:23:02,190 --> 00:23:05,400
In the area, there are about 30 sesame oil making
467
00:23:05,400 --> 00:23:07,620
structures and caravanserais with their
468
00:23:07,620 --> 00:23:08,973
accommodation spaces.
469
00:23:10,210 --> 00:23:11,683
Why is it that Ani became such
470
00:23:11,683 --> 00:23:13,760
an important city?
471
00:23:13,760 --> 00:23:16,130
It was mainly due to the Silk Road bridge,
472
00:23:16,130 --> 00:23:17,930
which was built in the 10th century.
473
00:23:19,120 --> 00:23:21,160
This bridge enabled the land route from Asia
474
00:23:21,160 --> 00:23:23,510
to cross over into Anatolia
475
00:23:23,510 --> 00:23:25,835
and as a result, the big caravans as you know,
476
00:23:25,835 --> 00:23:28,580
would first come to Ani as a stopover point
477
00:23:28,580 --> 00:23:29,583
and launching place.
478
00:23:30,460 --> 00:23:33,563
So, because of that, Ani prospered during that period.
479
00:23:36,440 --> 00:23:38,123
What role did the Armenians play with regard
480
00:23:38,123 --> 00:23:39,552
to the Silk Road?
481
00:23:39,552 --> 00:23:41,730
The Armenians were not only soldiers
482
00:23:41,730 --> 00:23:43,850
but also merchants and the people of the region
483
00:23:43,850 --> 00:23:45,343
who were already living here.
484
00:23:46,850 --> 00:23:48,530
The city was in decline for a long time
485
00:23:48,530 --> 00:23:50,180
but what was the fatal blow that left
486
00:23:50,180 --> 00:23:51,623
it empty and in ruins?
487
00:23:53,640 --> 00:23:55,630
It can't be explained by one single thing
488
00:23:55,630 --> 00:23:58,143
because the emigration didn't happen all at once.
489
00:23:59,860 --> 00:24:01,990
Some of the people left after it was destroyed
490
00:24:01,990 --> 00:24:04,503
by Tamerlane, others after the earthquakes.
491
00:24:05,760 --> 00:24:07,410
But, the main reason was because the
492
00:24:07,410 --> 00:24:09,803
land routes were replaced with sea routes.
493
00:24:11,020 --> 00:24:13,280
Ani flourished because it was a major trading
494
00:24:13,280 --> 00:24:14,423
and commercial center.
495
00:24:15,850 --> 00:24:18,760
If a city loses its importance for trade and commerce,
496
00:24:18,760 --> 00:24:20,834
economically speaking, the people have nothing
497
00:24:20,834 --> 00:24:21,993
more to do there.
498
00:24:31,470 --> 00:24:33,887
(soft music)
499
00:24:38,857 --> 00:24:40,460
Do you think the past, for example,
500
00:24:40,460 --> 00:24:42,113
the history of the Silk Road can teach us things
501
00:24:42,113 --> 00:24:43,833
that are useful for the present?
502
00:24:44,783 --> 00:24:48,593
Of course, history is a light for the future.
503
00:24:49,430 --> 00:24:51,343
That is how we must look at history.
504
00:24:52,300 --> 00:24:55,140
And as you know, these days, there's now a new
505
00:24:55,140 --> 00:24:56,993
agenda for the old Silk Road.
506
00:24:59,330 --> 00:25:01,380
In order to give new life to the structures
507
00:25:01,380 --> 00:25:03,703
on this road, we're planning to reopen it.
508
00:25:12,520 --> 00:25:13,870
Perched up on the bare and glorious
509
00:25:13,870 --> 00:25:16,110
expanse of the Step, Ani almost seems
510
00:25:16,110 --> 00:25:17,260
to have been forgotten.
511
00:25:18,780 --> 00:25:20,560
Here, the customs watch towers outnumber
512
00:25:20,560 --> 00:25:22,605
the tourist guards that patrol the spectacular
513
00:25:22,605 --> 00:25:25,710
archeological site where herds of wild horses
514
00:25:25,710 --> 00:25:26,923
are still free to roam.
515
00:25:35,341 --> 00:25:37,924
(upbeat music)
40514
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