When the Byzantine army arrived in the province of Shirak in 1041, local Armenian nobles (nakharars) assembled together against them under the command of the Pahlavuni general Vahram Pahlavouni.

The fighting was so ferocious that the effusion of blood flowing into the Akhurian River is said to have coloured its waters completely red.

This victory allowed Vahram along with Catholicos Petros Getadardz to crown Gagik II king of Armenia and subsequently take the fortress of Ani, which had been in the hands of Vest Sarkis.

An inscription found nearby said that building work on the approach to the bridge was done in the early fourteenth century.

[9] The bridge's single arch has fallen, leaving only tall abutments that were perhaps part of a fortified gate.