In 2011 the Republic of Turkey Ministry of Culture and Tourism partnered with the World Monuments Fund to conserve the Church of the Redeemer and the Ani 
Cathedral. Funds were provided by the US Department of State’s Ambassador’s Fund, the Turkish General Directorate of Cultural Heritage and Museums and World Monuments Fund to protect the monuments and create new economic opportunities in the region through tourism. The efforts to conserve these two significant structures will lay the groundwork for methodology development to conserve the other ruins of Ani.

The first phase, begun in the spring of 2011, involved a detailed condition survey via documentation of the ruins. Based on initial documentation, detailed conservation plans will be developed that cover emergency intervention, stabilization (including for seismic activity), and long-term visitor access for tourism. The Church of the Redeemer, as part of the spring 2011 documentation, has been surveyed with CyArk’s digital preservation methodology, including 3D terrestrial laser scanning carried out by WMF partner Solvotek. CyArk has overseen the archiving of the data and its processing for the development of both conservation and interpretive tools, ranging from accurate 3D models and architectural drawings, to virtual tours and video fly-overs of the 3D data.

