Mount Ararat
Ağrı Dağı
Interesting facts
- The massif covers about 1,100 square kilometres and holds roughly 1,150 cubic kilometres of volcanic rock, making it the largest volcano in the region.
- Archaeologists have found that an eruption around 2500–2400 BC buried at least one Bronze Age settlement on the north-west flank.
- Ararat is the third most prominent mountain in West Asia, after Elbrus and Damavand.
- In Persian the mountain is called Kuh-e Nuh, the mountain of Noah, while its Kurdish name, Çiyayê Agirî, means fiery mountain.
- On the first recorded ascent in 1829, Khachatur Abovian carried a lump of summit ice down in a bottle, treating its water as holy.
- For centuries the Armenian Church opposed climbing Ararat, as many believed Noah's Ark still rested on the summit and must not be disturbed.
- According to Armenian legend, King Artavazd lies chained in a cave on Ararat, and blacksmiths struck their anvils to keep his chains from breaking.
- Armenian folk tradition held that dragon-like creatures called vishaps living in Ararat and nearby Aragats fought each other every two years.
- A 1974 book counted about 200 people from more than 20 countries who had claimed to see the Ark on Ararat since 1856.
- The first winter ascent was made by the Turkish mountaineer Bozkurt Ergör on 21 February 1970.
Why it is worth it
Mount Ararat is a vast, dormant double volcano in the far east of Turkey, rising to about 5,137 metres from the plains near the borders of Iran, Armenia and the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan. Greater Ararat, a broad snow-capped cone, is the highest peak in Turkey; Little Ararat, 3,896 metres, stands beside it as a smaller, sharper cone, joined to it by a lava saddle at around 2,600 metres. The massif is about 35 km wide at its base, and because it rises so abruptly from low ground, it is one of the most visually commanding mountains in the world.
Since the Middle Ages, European tradition has identified it with the "mountains of Ararat" in the Book of Genesis, where Noah's Ark came to rest, and expeditions still search its slopes for the Ark from time to time. For Armenians, Masis — their name for the mountain — is a national symbol, painted, written about and shown on the country's coat of arms, even though it has lain within Turkey since the treaties of 1921. In Turkish it is Ağrı Dağı, in Kurdish Çiyayê Agirî. The name Ararat itself goes back to the Iron Age kingdom of Urartu.
The mountain is not extinct in human memory. In July 1840 an eruption on the upper north flank, together with a major earthquake, triggered a landslide that destroyed the village of Akori and the Armenian monastery of St Jacob; thousands died across the region. The summit ice cap has been shrinking steadily and lost about 29 percent of its area between 1976 and 2011.
The first recorded ascent was made in 1829 by Friedrich Parrot and the Armenian writer Khachatur Abovian with four companions. The classic climbing route today starts on the southern side, from the Doğubayazıt district, while the northern routes from the Iğdır side involve more technical glacier climbing. Climbing has been restricted in the past — it was banned from 1990 to 1998 — and requires permission from the Turkish authorities. In the Doğubayazıt district stands the Ishak Pasha Palace, a semi-ruined Ottoman-era palace built between 1685 and 1784 and shown on Turkish banknotes.
Getting there
Doğubayazıt, about 25 km from the summit, is the usual base for climbs and views. Iğdır Airport (IGD), about 47 km away, is the nearest airport in Turkey. Zvartnots International Airport (EVN) near Yerevan in Armenia is closer as the crow flies, at about 50 km, but it is not a practical route.
Plan your visit
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Nearby places
- Ishak Pasha Palace 24.8 km · palace
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From the encyclopaedia
Mount Ararat, officially Mount Ağrı, also known as Masis, is a snow- capped and dormant compound volcano in easternmost Turkey. It consists of two major volcanic cones: Greater Ararat and Little Ararat. Greater Ararat is the highest peak in Turkey and the Armenian highlands with an elevation of 5,137 m (16,854 ft); Little Ararat's elevation is 3,896 m (12,782 ft). The Ararat massif is about 35 km (22 mi) wide at ground base. The first recorded efforts to reach Ararat's summit were made in the Middle Ages, and Friedrich Parrot, Khachatur Abovian, and four others made the first recorded ascent in 1829.
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