St. Gregory Church in Ani Ruins, Kars, Türkiye Dec 29, 2025

St. Gregory Church in Ani Ruins, Kars, Türkiye

On a windswept plateau in eastern Türkiye, along the border with Armenia, the ruins of the ancient city of Ani rise from the landscape with striking clarity. A millennium ago, Ani was a thriving Armenian capital on a major Silk Road route, its fortifications and busy streets shaping trade and culture across the region. Today, the city is quiet, but its outline still carries the weight of its past.

© Kenan Talas/Getty Images

palette

Today in History

Dec 29, 2018When science looks like magic
Dec 29, 2019Helloooooo, Innsbruck
Dec 29, 2020Where the glow of the holidays lingers
Dec 29, 2021Mountain goats
Dec 29, 2022Silver-studded blue butterflies
Dec 29, 2023Oud-West, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Dec 29, 2024Borobudur Temple, Java, Indonesia

More Desktop Wallpapers:

Oct 6, 2022International Geodiversity Day
Mar 11, 2021Welcome to the drainpipe of the Pacific
Sep 25, 2019Chilling out in the Arctic
Nov 16, 2024Wadden Sea coast, Friesland, Netherlands
Oct 12, 2025Village of Saranac Lake, New York
Aug 22, 2019Dancing waters of Dubai
Jan 7, 2025Moeraki Boulders, South Island, New Zealand
Mar 12, 2022The Girl Scouts celebrate 110 years
Aug 5, 2022Edinburgh festivals
Sep 3, 2018Construction workers resting above Manhattan
Aug 9, 2021A tribute to the ancestors
Dec 25, 2021Merry Christmas
Nov 14, 2022Castle ruins on the island of Halki, Greece
Dec 6, 2023Computer Science Education Week
May 12, 2022International Nurses Day
Sep 25, 2021Autumn comes to the Porcupines
Jan 22, 2025Ad-Deir, Petra, Jordan
Aug 25, 2024National Park Service Founders Day
Jan 28, 2020US Coast Guard: Protecting us for 105 years
Jan 16, 2019Up on the glacier
Dec 8, 2021Petrified Forest National Park
Apr 12, 2022International Day of Human Space Flight
Feb 15, 2025The natural ice wall of Misotsuchi, Chichibu, Japan
Sep 6, 2018Feeling chic on Fashion Week
Feb 19, 2021Colorful cows of the reef
Jul 17, 2018Is there a bug-egg emoji for this?
Nov 8, 2024Glacial rivers in Iceland
Sep 26, 2025Least chipmunk, Kootenai National Forest, Montana
Jul 28, 2024Bathing huts in Skåne County, Sweden
Dec 5, 2023Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau castles, Bavaria, Germany