Armen Aroyan, on the left, with a group of visitors before the Ani Cathedral, 2000, The Pilgrim Speaks, Volume 1, p. 441. Courtesy of the USC Dornsife Institute of Armenian Studies, University of Southern California – Armen Aroyan Collection.

Armen Aroyan, The Pilgrim Speaks: An Armenian Discovery of Ancestral Roots, Volume 1, 1987-2005, Monrovia, CA, 2024. Courtesy of the USC Dornsife Institute of Armenian Studies, University of Southern California – Armen Aroyan Collection.

Armen Aroyan, The Pilgrim Speaks: An Armenian Discovery of Ancestral Roots, Volume 1, 1987-2005, Monrovia, CA, 2024. Courtesy of the USC Dornsife Institute of Armenian Studies, University of Southern California – Armen Aroyan Collection.

This fragment of Armen Aroyan’s video recording comes from the July 1995 journey to Historic Armenia. The footage showcases Ani’s landscape, featuring the city walls, the Ani Cathedral, the Gagkashen Church, and other landmarks. It also includes several highly meaningful and emotionally charged scenes that display various ways in which Armenian pilgrims interact with the ruins and are prompted by them to perform different symbolic acts. One such scene shows the group singing the Armenian Christian hymn Lord, Protect Us in front of the cathedral’s altar (01:40–05:20). In another scene, one of the group members, Nazik Kotcholosian Messerlian, recites in Armenian the renowned poem “I love my sweet Armenia’s” by Yeghishe Charents (1897–1937). Then, she addresses the lost city with the words: “We are standing in the ruins of Ani, Our ancestral Ani, Our lamenting Ani, We’ve come to honor you”. Finally, she speaks across the border to her relatives in Armenia, pleading for the reunification of historical Armenian lands. The scene ends with her collecting a few stones from the Ani’s ground (07:42–11:45). In the last part of the video, another pilgrim offers his take on the city’s history, commenting on Ani Cathedral and its architect, Trdat, as well as other city churches, including Gagkashen, and Tigran Honents. Speaking about Armenian migration from Ani, he mentions the town of Armenopolis (Gherla, Szamosújvár) in Transylvania as one of their destinations. Concluding the speech, he calls Ani, “one of the seven wonders of the Armenian world” and describes being there as “a rewarding experience every Armenian should seek to have” (21:30–26:50).

Diasporic Pilgrimages to the Ruins of Ani - Armen Aroyan, Petőfi Museum of Literature, Budapest, March-April, 2026, exhibition poster.