Mount Ararat

	Little Ararat (left) and Greater Ararat (right); View from Yerevan, Armenia
Elevation	5,137 metres (16,854 ft), see section
Prominence	3,611 m ranked 48th
Location
Location	Iğdır Province, Turkey
Geology
Type	Stratovolcano
Last eruption	1840

Mount Ararat (Turkish: Ağrı Dağı; Armenian: Արարատ; Kurdish: Grîdax or Çiyayê Agirî) is the tallest peak in the Armenian Highlands and modern-day Turkey. The mountain is always capped with snow, and it is a dormant volcano.

It is in Iğdır Province, near the northeast corner of Turkey, 16 km west of Iran and 32 km south of the Armenian border. Although lying outside the borders of modern Armenia, the mountain is the principal national symbol of Armenia and has historically been considered a sacred mountain by Armenians. It has featured prominently in Armenian literature and art and is an icon for Armenian irredentism. It is depicted on the coat of arms of Armenia along with Noah's Ark.

History

This area was the Armenian kingdom of Ararat (in Assyrian: Urartu). Armenians lived here for nearly 3000 years. In the 16th century the mountain became part of the border between the Ottoman Empire and the Safavid dynasty of Persia. In 1828 it became the border of the Russian Empire. In 1923 the Treaty of Lausanne put Ararat in the administration of Turkey. It remains a national symbol of Armenia. It was also part of the short-lived Kurdish Republic of Ararat.

Gallery

Ararat, Climbing route at 4,700m
Ararat, View on snow covered top from 4,900m
Ararat, from 2,700m
Ararat, from a village
Ararat, View with truck driving mountaineers
Ararat from Ararat plain
Ararat, from a Western Armenia perspective
Khor Virap monastery in front of Mount Ararat
Yerevan, Armenia with Mount Ararat
Yerevan, Armenia with Mount Ararat in the background
Ararat at sunset

Mount Ararat Media

View from the Araratian plain near the city of Artashat, Armenia
Closeup of the large peak of Mount Ararat, as viewed from Yerevan, the capital of Armenia.
Closeup of the lesser peak of Mount Ararat, as seen from Yerevan, the capital of Armenia.
Ararat Mountain, Dogubayazit, Turkey*981122 (February 11, 2020) Photo by: Safa Daneshvar
Muntele Ararat 3D. Imagine realizata cu date SRTM furnizate liber de NASA.
Paleogeography of the early Oligocene
Tectonic map of southern Europe, Mediterranean and the Near East, showing tectonic structures of the western Alpide mountain belt
Ararat and Noah's ark on the Erdapfel by Martin Behaim, c. 1490.
Mount Ararat with Noah's Ark and Saint Gayane Church