Remembering the First and Forgotten Armenian Genocide of 1019

The most savage treatment was always reserved for those visibly proclaiming their Christianity: clergy and monks "were burned to death, while others were flayed alive from head to toe." Every monastery and church-before this, Ani was known as "the City of 1001 Churches"-was pillaged, desecrated, and set aflame. A zealous jihadi climbed atop the city's main cathedral "and pulled down the very heavy cross which was on the dome, throwing it to the ground," before entering and defiling the church. Made of pure silver and the "size of a man"-and now symbolic of Islam's might over Christianity-the broken crucifix was sent as a trophy to adorn a mosque in modern-day Azerbaijan.

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