The Church of the Redeemer is one of the architectural masterpieces of the medieval city of Ani, known as the city of the thousand and one churches." Ani is now located in the Turkish province of Kars and sits atop a triangular plateau of land lined on its east by the Akhurian River and its west by the Aladja River. Ani's geographic location placed it directly along important east-west trade routes and in the center of regional politics for much of its history