Mount Aragats (, ) is an isolated four-peaked

volcano A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most oft ...

massif A massif () is a principal mountain mass, such as a compact portion of a mountain range, containing one or more summits (e.g. France's Massif Central). In mountaineering literature, ''massif'' is frequently used to denote the main mass of an ...

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

. Its northern summit, at above sea level, is the highest point of the

Lesser Caucasus The Lesser Caucasus or Lesser Caucasus Mountains, also called Caucasus Minor, is the second of the two main ranges of the Caucasus Mountains, of length about . The western portion of the Lesser Caucasus overlaps and converges with east Turkey an ...

and Armenia. It is also one of the highest points in the

Armenian Highlands The Armenian highlands (; also known as the Armenian upland, Armenian plateau, or Armenian tableland)Robert Hewsen, Hewsen, Robert H. "The Geography of Armenia" in ''The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times Volume I: The Dynastic Periods: ...

. The Aragats massif is surrounded by the

Kasagh River Kasagh () is a river in the west-central region of modern Armenia which flows north to south. It originates near Mount Aragats in Aragatsotn province, flows south into Armavir province and into the Metsamor, which itself is a tributary of the ...

on the east, the

Akhurian River The Akhuryan () or Arpachay () is a river in the South Caucasus. It originates in Armenia and flows from Lake Arpi, along the closed border with Turkey, forming part of the geographic border between the two states, until it flows into the Aras ...

on the west, Ararat Plain on the south, and Shirak Plain on the north. The circumference of the massif is around , and covers an area of or around of Armenia's total area. of the massif is located above .

Etymology and names

According to Armenian tradition, the name of Aragats originates from the words and , which translates to "Ara's throne", in reference to the legendary hero

Ara the Handsome Ara the Handsome (or the Beautiful, ) is a legendary Armenian hero and king. He is the son of the legendary king Aram and a descendant of the Armenian patriarch Hayk. Scholars believe that Ara, Aram and Hayk were originally deities who were later ...

. Aragats was mentioned by the early medieval historian

Movses Khorenatsi Movses Khorenatsi ( 410–490s AD; , ) was a prominent Armenians, Armenian historian from late antiquity and the author of the ''History of Armenia (book), History of the Armenians''. Movses's ''History of the Armenians'' was the first attempt at ...

, who in his ''

History of Armenia The history of Armenia covers the topics related to the history of the Armenia, Republic of Armenia, as well as the Armenians, Armenian people, the Armenian language, and the regions of Eurasia historically and Armenian Highlands, geographica ...

'' claims that the mountain is named after , the son of

Hayk Hayk (, ), also known as Hayk Nahapet (, , ), is the legendary patriarch and founder of the Armenian nation. His story is told in the ''History of Armenia'' attributed to the Armenian historian Movses Khorenatsi and in the ''Primary History'' ...

, the legendary patriarch of the Armenian people. Aramaneak called his possessions "the foot of Aragats" ( or ). The modern

Aragatsotn Province Aragatsotn (, ) is a administrative divisions of Armenia, province (''Marz (country subdivision), marz'') of Armenia. It is located in the western part of the country. The capital and largest city of the province is the town of Ashtarak. The Sta ...

, dominated by the mountain, was formed in 1995. A relatively modern name for the mountain is ''Alagöz'' (), sometimes spelled ''Alagheuz'', which literally means "variegated eye" in Turkish and Azerbaijani. This term was widely used up until the mid-20th century in European, Tsarist Russian, and early Soviet sources. Another version, ''Alagyaz'' (), has been used in Armenian. A

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

on the foot of Aragats is named Alagyaz.

Geography and geology

Aragats is isolated from Armenia's other mountain ranges. However, it is considered part and the highest point of the larger

mountain range. It has four summits, which are named according to their relative geographic position: *Northern— *Western— *Eastern— *Southern— Mount Aragats has a

topographic prominence In topography, prominence or relative height (also referred to as autonomous height, and shoulder drop in US English, and drop in British English) measures the height of a mountain or hill's summit relative to the lowest contour line encircling ...

of 2,143 meters, more than some higher mountains, such as

Dykh-Tau Dykh-Tau or Dykhtau (; , derived from Turkic "dik dagh" which means 'Jagged Mount'), is the second-highest mountain in Russia and Europe with an elevation of 5,205 m (17,077 ft) above sea level. It is located in Kabardino-Balkaria, Russia; its ...

(5,205 m high) in the Russian part of Great Caucasus Range. Situated northwest of the Armenian capital

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , ; ; sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia, as well as one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerev ...

, Aragats is a large volcano with numerous

fissure vents A fissure vent, also known as a volcanic fissure, eruption fissure or simply a fissure, is a linear volcanic vent through which lava erupts, usually without any explosive activity. The vent is often a few metres wide and may be many kilom ...

and adventive cones. Numerous large lava flows descend from the volcano and are constrained in age between the middle Pleistocene and 3,000 BCE. The summit crater is cut by a long line of cones which generated possibly Holocene-age

lahar A lahar (, from ) is a violent type of mudflow or debris flow composed of a slurry of Pyroclastic rock, pyroclastic material, rocky debris and water. The material flows down from a volcano, typically along a valley, river valley. Lahars are o ...

s and lava flow. The volcanic system covers an area of 5,000 km² and is one of the largest in the region. More recent activity in flank centers occurred in Tirinkatar (0.48-0.61 Ma), Kakavasar, (0.52-0.54 Ma), and Ashtarak (0.58 Ma), as well as Jrbazhan in the summit area (0.52 Ma). The magmas feeding Aragats are unusually hot for arc-derived magmas, resulting in long and voluminous lava flows.

Glaciation

Shortly after World War II, observations noted the presence of

firn __NOTOC__ Firn (; from Swiss German "last year's", cognate with ''before'') is partially compacted névé, a type of snow that has been left over from past seasons and has been recrystallized into a substance denser than névé. It is ice that ...

fields and snowfields on the sides of the crater cirque as well as moraines and glaciers inside the crater. An analysis in 1896 indicated a surface area of 5.5-5.8 km², but it rapidly retreated afterward. The glaciation has been retreating on account of insufficient snowfall and increasing temperatures. Glacial meltwater dominates the upper part of the rivers descending from Aragats but its importance decreases farther down the valleys. Traces of prehistorical glaciation also exist including thick moraines in the summit area at an altitude of 2,600–3,000 m.

Climate

History

Geological

The volcano was constructed in four different phases. The first phase (possibly 2.5Ma) occurred in the main crater and subsidiary vents and was

basaltic andesite Basaltic andesite is a volcanic rock that is intermediate in composition between basalt and andesite. It is composed predominantly of augite and plagioclase. Basaltic andesite can be found in volcanoes around the world, including in Central Ameri ...

in composition. It crops out in deep gorges. The second phase (0.97–0.89 Ma, by K–Ar) involved the main vent, and subsidiary structures and was

basaltic Basalt (; ) is an aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron ( mafic lava) exposed at or very near the surface of a rocky planet or moon. More than 90% ...

and

andesitic Andesite () is a volcanic rock of intermediate composition. In a general sense, it is the intermediate type between silica-poor basalt and silica-rich rhyolite. It is fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic in texture, and is composed predomina ...

in composition with ignimbrites and pyroclastic, with tuffs and lava flows emanating from satellite centers. It was the most voluminous and included the Shamiram and Yeghvard subsidiary centres. The third phase (0.74–0.68 Ma) while similar to the second was more restricted in regional extent to the

Mantash Mantash () is a village in Khararud Rural District of the Central District in Khodabandeh County, Zanjan province, Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. I ...

River basin. The fourth stage (0.56–0.45 Ma) involved

mafic A mafic mineral or rock is a silicate mineral or igneous rock rich in magnesium and iron. Most mafic minerals are dark in color, and common rock-forming mafic minerals include olivine, pyroxene, amphibole, and biotite. Common mafic rocks include ...

lava flows from parasitic vents in the southern parts of the volcano.

Cultural

Numerous engravings have been made around the volcano, including rock paintings portraying animals and human-like figures in the

valley possibly dating to the early Holocene, and in Aghavnatun on the southern side of the volcano including petroglyphs showing animals that were possibly created in the 4th to 1st millennia BCE. According to an ancient Armenian legend, Aragats and

Mount Ararat Mount Ararat, also known as Masis or Mount Ağrı, is a snow-capped and dormant compound volcano in Eastern Turkey, easternmost Turkey. It consists of two major volcanic cones: Greater Ararat and Little Ararat. Greater Ararat is the highest p ...

were loving sisters who parted after a quarrel and separated permanently. Another legend tells that

Gregory the Illuminator Gregory the Illuminator ( – ) was the founder and first official Catholicos of All Armenians, head of the Armenian Apostolic Church. He Christianization of Armenia, converted Armenia from Zoroastrianism in Armenia, Zoroastrianism to Chris ...

, who converted Armenia to Christianity in the early 4th century, "used to pray on the peak of the mountain. At nighttime an icon lamp shone to give light to him, the lamp hanging from heaven using no rope. Some say that the icon lamp is still there, but only the worthy ones can see it." Aragats from the Plain of Alexandropol

In 1935, on the 15th anniversary of Armenia's Sovietization, around one thousand people climbed the summit of Aragats from five directions. On May 28, 2005—the anniversary of the establishment of the

First Republic of Armenia The First Republic of Armenia, officially known at the time of its existence as the Republic of Armenia, was an independent History of Armenia, Armenian state that existed from May (28th ''de jure'', 30th ''de facto'') 1918 to 2 December 1920 in ...

—around 250,000 people participated in a Dance of Unity () around Mount Aragats in a mass display of national unity. The quarter million participants, among them then-President

Robert Kocharyan Robert Sedraki Kocharyan ( ; born 31 August 1954) is an Armenian politician. He served as the President of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic from 1994 to 1997 and Prime Minister of Nagorno-Karabakh from 1992 to 1994. He served as the second Presiden ...

and Defense Minister

Serzh Sargsyan Serzh Azati Sargsyan (, ; born 30 June 1954)Official biography of Serzh Sargsyan

, formed a ring around the mountain after a blessing from Catholicos

Karekin II Catholicos Garegin II (, also spelled Karekin; born 21 August 1951) is the Catholicos of All Armenians, the supreme head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, since 1999. In 2013 he was unanimously elected the Oriental Orthodox head of the World Cou ...

. The organizers hoped the event would be included in the ''

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, list ...

''. Prior to the dance, some 110,000 trees were planted on the slopes of Aragats.

Nearby settlements

The following settlements are located on the slopes or foot of Aragats:

Ashtarak Ashtarak ( ) is a town in the Ashtarak Municipality of the Aragatsotn Province of Armenia, located on the left bank of Kasagh River along the gorge, 20 kms northwest of the capital Yerevan. It is the administrative centre of the province and an i ...

Artik Artik () is a town in the Artik Municipality of the Shirak Province of Armenia. As of the 2011 census, the town had a population of 19,534. As per the 2016 official estimate, the population of Artik was around 18,800. As of the 2022 census, the t ...

Aparan Aparan ( , colloquially ) is a town in the Aparan Municipality of the Aragatsotn Province of Armenia, about 50 kilometers northwest of the capital Yerevan. As of the 2011 census, the population of the town was 6,451. As per the 2016 official esti ...

Talin Talin may refer to: Places * Talin, Armenia, a city * Tálín, a municipality and village in the Czech Republic *Tallinn, capital of Estonia * Talin, Iran, a village in West Azerbaijan Province * Talin, Syria, a village in Tartus Governorate Other ...

, Oshakan,

Byurakan Byurakan () is a village in the Ashtarak Municipality of the Aragatsotn Province of Armenia, located on the slope of Mount Aragats. The village is home to several historical sites including the 7th-century Artavazik Church, the 10th-century bas ...

Main sights

Historic and cultural sites

Aragats has historically played a significant role in Armenian history and culture. Numerous historical and modern monuments are located on its slopes, some of which are listed below. The 4th-century

mausoleum A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type o ...

of the Arsacid (Arshakuni) dynasty is located in the village of

Aghtsk Aghdzk () is a village in the Ashtarak Municipality of the Aragatsotn Province of Armenia. It is home to the Arshakid Mausoleum, a large grave monument complex and basilica of the 4th to 5th centuries. King Shapur II of Persia exhumed the bones of ...

, on the slopes of Aragats. The early medieval fortress of

Amberd Amberd () is a 10th-century fortress located above sea level, on the slopes of Mount Aragats at the confluence of the Arkashen and Amberd rivers in the province of Aragatsotn, Armenia. The name translates to "fortress in the clouds" in Armenian ...

and the nearby 11th-century

Vahramashen Church The Vahramashen Church (), also commonly referred to as Vahramashen Surp Astvatsatsin or the Church of Amberd) was built for Prince Vahram Pahlavuni of the Pahlavuni family. An inscription on the inside lintel of the north portal to the church d ...

are located on the slopes of Aragats, at an altitude of . One source calls Amberd the "biggest and the best preserved fortress" in modern-day Armenia. The Alphabet Park () is located near the village of

Artashavan Artashavan () is a village in the Ashtarak Municipality of the Aragatsotn Province of Armenia. In the village to the northeast, is the restored 7th-century Surp Amenaprkich Church. The villages of Lusaghbyur and Nigatun Nigatun () is an abandon ...

. It was founded in 2005 on the 1600th anniversary of the invention of the

Armenian alphabet The Armenian alphabet (, or , ) or, more broadly, the Armenian script, is an alphabetic writing system developed for Armenian and occasionally used to write other languages. It is one of the three historical alphabets of the South Caucasu ...

. It features sculptures of the 39 letters of the

and statues of notable Armenians, such as

Mesrop Mashtots Mesrop Mashtots (; , ' 362February 17, 440 AD) was an Armenians, Armenian Linguistics, linguist, composer, Christian theology, theologian, Politician, statesman, and Hymnology, hymnologist. He is venerated as a saint in the Armenian Apostolic C ...

(the inventor of the alphabet), Armenia's national poet

Hovhannes Tumanyan Hovhannes Tumanyan (, classical spelling: Յովհաննէս Թումանեան, – March 23, 1923) was an Armenian poet, writer, translator, and literary and public activist. He is the national poet of Armenia. Tumanyan wrote poems, q ...

Khachatur Abovian Khachatur Abovian (; disappeared ) was an Armenian polymath, educator, scientist, philosopher, writer, poet and an advocate of modernization.Panossian, p. 143. He mysteriously vanished in 1848 and was eventually presumed dead. Reputed as the fat ...

(father of modern Eastern Armenian literature), and others. In 2012, a high cross, composed of 1711 large and small iron crosses, symbolizing the number of years since Armenia's conversion to Christianity in 301, was installed on a hill near the park. A cross is added on an annual basis.

Scientific institutions

The Aragats Cosmic Ray Research Station is a

cosmic-ray observatory A cosmic-ray observatory is a scientific installation built to detect high-energy-particles coming from space called cosmic rays. This typically includes photons (high-energy light), electrons, protons, and some heavier nuclei, as well as antimatt ...

near

Lake Kari Lake Kari () is a freshwater lake in Armenia located on the slopes of Mount Aragats. It is located 3,185 m above sea level and has a perimeter of 1,150 m. Its depth is up to 8 m, its volume is 375,000 m2, and it has a surface ...

, at around above sea level. It was founded in 1943 by the brothers

Artem Alikhanian Artem Alikhanian (; ; 24 June 1908 – 25 February 1978) was a Soviet physicist of Armenian origin, one of the founders and first director of the Yerevan Physics Institute, a correspondent member of the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union ( ...

and

Abram Alikhanov Abram Isaakovich Alikhanov (; , né Alikhanian; 8 December 1970) was a Soviet experimental physicist of Armenian origin who specialized in particle and nuclear physics. He was one of the Soviet Union's leading physicists. Before joining the So ...

. The Nor-Amberd station, built in 1960, is located at . The

Byurakan Observatory The Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory, or Byurakan Observatory () is an astronomical observatory owned and operated by the Armenian Academy of Sciences. It is located on the slope of Mount Aragats in the village of Byurakan in Armenia. History ...

, established in 1946 by

Victor Ambartsumian Viktor Amazaspovich Ambartsumian (; , ''Viktor Hamazaspi Hambardzumyan''; 12 August 1996) was a Soviet and Armenian astrophysicist and science administrator. One of the 20th century's leading astronomers, he is widely regarded as the founder of ...

, is located on the southern slopes of Aragats, near the village of

, at an altitude of . It made Armenia one of the world's centers for the study of

astrophysics Astrophysics is a science that employs the methods and principles of physics and chemistry in the study of astronomical objects and phenomena. As one of the founders of the discipline, James Keeler, said, astrophysics "seeks to ascertain the ...

in the 20th century. The ROT-54/2.6, a

radio telescope A radio telescope is a specialized antenna (radio), antenna and radio receiver used to detect radio waves from astronomical radio sources in the sky. Radio telescopes are the main observing instrument used in radio astronomy, which studies the r ...

built in 1985 by the radiophysicist Paris Herouni in the village of Orgov, on the slopes of Aragats.

Gravity hill

On the highway leading to fortress Amberd is a

gravity hill A gravity hill, also known as a magnetic hill, mystery hill, mystery spot, gravity road, or anti-gravity hill, is a place where the layout of the surrounding land produces an illusion, making a slight downhill slope appear to be an uphill slope ...

, which has become a tourist attraction, due to an optical illusion leading to a downhill slope appearing to be uphill.

Mount Aragats hike

Mount Aragats is a popular hiking destination among locals and tourists. The southern, lowest peak is the most visited one. The hiking trail is approximately 5 kilometers long, and it typically takes between 2.5 and 3 hours to complete.

In culture

Mount Aragats plays a special role in Armenian history and culture. Along with Ararat, it is considered a sacred mountain for the Armenians. Aragats is a male first name in Armenia, used especially in areas surrounding the mountain. Mt. Aragats is often associated with

Gyumri Gyumri (, ) is an urban municipal community and the List of cities and towns in Armenia, second-largest city in Armenia, serving as the administrative center of Shirak Province in the northwestern part of the country. By the end of the 19th centur ...

, Armenia's second-largest city. The mountain is depicted on the coat of arms of Gyumri. It is also depicted on the obverse side of the 10,000

Armenian dram The Armenian dram (; Armenian dram sign, sign: ֏; abbreviation: դր.; ISO 4217, ISO code: AMD) is the currency of Armenia. It was historically subdivided into 100 luma (). The Central Bank of Armenia is responsible for issuance and circulation ...

banknote (in use since 2003) in the background of

Avetik Isahakyan Avetik Sahaki Isahakyan (; October 30, 1875 – October 17, 1957) was an Armenian lyric poet, writer and public activist. Biography Isahakyan was born in Alexandropol (present-day Gyumri, Armenia) in 1875. He was educated at the Gevorgian S ...

, a poet born in Gyumri. Numerous Armenian poets (e.g., Avetik Isahakyan) have written about Aragats.

Marietta Shaginyan Marietta Sergeevna Shaginyan (; , April 2, 1888 – March 20, 1982) was a Soviet writer, historian of Armenian descent. She was one of the "fellow travelers" of the 1920s led by the Serapion Brotherhood and became one of the most prolific co ...

compared Aragats to a "half-open bud of a giant pomegranate flower". In one short poem,

Silva Kaputikyan Silva Kaputikyan () (20 January 1919 – 25 August 2006) was an Armenian poet and political activist. One of the best-known Armenian writers of the twentieth century, she is recognized as "the leading poetess of Armenia" and "the grand lady of t ...

compares Armenia to an "ancient rock-carved fortress", the towers of which are Mount Aragats and

In visual art

Numerous artists have painted Aragats. Some examples of paintings of Aragats are kept at the

National Gallery of Armenia The National Gallery of Armenia (, ) is the largest art museum in Armenia. Located on Yerevan's Republic Square, Yerevan, Republic Square, the museum has one of the most prominent locations in the Armenian capital. The NGA houses significant colle ...

. Արագած (1905) Գևորգ Բաշինջաղյան.jpg, Gevorg Bashinjaghian, 1905 Արագած լեռը (1917) Եղիշե Թադևոսյան.jpg, Yeghishe Tadevosyan, 1917 Արագած Փանոս Թերլեմեզյան.jpg,

Panos Terlemezian Panos Terlemezian (; 11 March 1865, Aygestan near Van – 30 April 1941, Yerevan) was an Armenian landscape and portrait painter; known for his support of Armenian nationalist causes. Biography His love for painting expressed itself while ...

, probably 1941

Gallery

File:Aragats 2019-05-12.jpg File:Aragats 1112.jpg File:Aragats from Gyumri 1.jpg File:Aragats from mt. Guthanasar - panoramio.jpg File:Aragats in snow.jpg File:Aragats, view from Tsaghkunyatc - panoramio (1).jpg File:Aragats from airplane.jpg File:Mount Aragats 23.jpg File:27 - Le mont Aragats.JPG File:Aragats crater 26.jpg File:Lake on mount Aragats - Լիճ Արագած լեռան վրա.jpg

Notes

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Aragats Subduction volcanoes Volcanoes of Armenia Mountains of Armenia Polygenetic volcanoes Pliocene stratovolcanoes Pleistocene stratovolcanoes Holocene stratovolcanoes Geography of Aragatsotn Province Four-thousanders of the Caucasus Four-thousanders of the Armenian Highland Stratovolcanoes of Asia