Azhdahak () is a volcano in Armenia, the highest point of

Gegham mountains The Gegham mountains (or Gegham Ridge; ) are a range of mountains in Armenia. The range is a tableland-type watershed basin of Sevan Lake from east, inflows of rivers Araks and Hrazdan from north and west, Azat and Vedi rivers from south-west ...

. It has an elevation of 3,597 m above sea. It is part of the Gegham Ridge volcanic field, which last erupted at 1900 BC ± 1000 years. There is a lake in the crater of volcano Azhdahak that is formed from melting snow. From the top of the mountain opens the pictorial landscape of mountains Ararat, Hatis,

Ara Ara may refer to: Biology * ''Ara'' (bird), a genus of parrots * Ara (fish) (''Niphon spinosus''), a species of fish * L-arabinose operon, also known as ara Places * Ara (mountain), a mountain in Armenia * Ara, Armenia, a village in Armenia ...

Aragats Mount Aragats (, ) is an isolated four-peaked volcano massif in Armenia. Its northern summit, at above sea level, is the highest point of the Lesser Caucasus and Armenia. It is also one of the highest points in the Armenian Highlands. The Ara ...

Lake Sevan Lake Sevan () is the largest body of water in both Armenia and the Caucasus region. It is one of the largest freshwater Alpine lake, high-altitude (alpine) lakes in Eurasia. The lake is situated in Gegharkunik Province, at an altitude of abov ...

, the whole

and the Kotayk valley. In the surroundings of Azhdahak there is a lake,

Akna AKNA is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''AKNA'' gene. The protein is an AT-hook transcription factor which contains an AT-hook binding motif. The protein is expressed as different isoforms. AKNA is known to upregulate expression of t ...

( ''Aknalich''), of volcanic origin. “Akn” means "spring (water)" in Armenian.

Geology

The compound

scoria cone A cinder cone or scoria cone is a steep, conical landform of loose pyroclastic fragments, such as volcanic ash, clinkers, or scoria that has been built around a volcanic vent. The pyroclastic fragments are formed by explosive eruptions or l ...

of Azhdahak is up to 1600m in diameter and about 370m high. The total area of volcanic lavas, partly eroded and overlapped by , is around 8 square km. The cone is formed of

scoria Scoria or cinder is a pyroclastic, highly vesicular, dark-colored volcanic rock formed by ejection from a volcano as a molten blob and cooled in the air to form discrete grains called clasts.Neuendorf, K.K.E., J.P. Mehl, Jr., and J.A. Jackso ...

lapilli Lapilli (: lapillus) is a size classification of tephra, which is material that falls out of the air during a volcanic eruption or during some meteorite impacts. ''Lapilli'' is Latin for "little stones". By definition lapilli range from in dia ...

, sands,

volcanic ash Volcanic ash consists of fragments of rock, mineral crystals, and volcanic glass, produced during volcanic eruptions and measuring less than 2 mm (0.079 inches) in diameter. The term volcanic ash is also often loosely used to r ...

, debris, lava boulders, and

volcanic bomb A volcanic bomb or lava bomb is a mass of partially molten rock (tephra) larger than 64 mm (2.5 inches) in diameter, formed when a volcano ejects viscous fragments of lava during an eruption. Because volcanic bombs cool after they l ...

Fauna and flora

Bird fauna of Gegham Mountain Range includes about 250 species, what makes up 70% of all Armenia's avifauna. Stony slopes are an irreplaceable habitat for birds of prey, such as: *

Golden eagle The golden eagle (''Aquila chrysaetos'') is a bird of prey living in the Northern Hemisphere. It is the most widely distributed species of eagle. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. They are one of the best-known bird of pr ...

(''Aquila chrysaetos'') *

Egyptian vulture The Egyptian vulture (''Neophron percnopterus''), also called the white scavenger vulture or pharaoh's chicken, is a small Old World vulture in the monotypic genus ''Neophron''. It is widely distributed from the Iberian Peninsula, North Africa ...

(''Neophron percnopterus'') *

Cinereous vulture The cinereous vulture (''Aegypius monachus''), also known as the black vulture, Eurasian black vulture, and monk vulture, is a very large Raptor (bird), raptor in the family Accipitridae distributed through much of temperate Eurasia. With a body ...

(''Aegypius monachus'') *

Imperial eagle The eagle is used in heraldry as a charge, as a supporter, and as a crest. Heraldic eagles can be found throughout world history like in the Achaemenid Empire or in the present Republic of Indonesia. The European post-classical symbolism of ...

(''Aquila heliaca'') *

Griffon vulture The Eurasian griffon vulture (''Gyps fulvus'') is a large Old World vulture in the bird of prey family Accipitridae. It is also known as the griffon vulture, although this term is sometimes used for the genus as a whole. It is not to be confuse ...

(''Gyps fulvus'') *

Bearded vulture The bearded vulture (''Gypaetus barbatus''), also known as the lammergeier and ossifrage, is a very large bird of prey in the Monotypic taxon, monotypic genus ''Gypaetus''. The bearded vulture is the only known vertebrate whose diet consists of ...

(''Gypaetus barbatus'') On the snow-covered slopes, traces of brown bear (''

Ursus arctos The brown bear (''Ursus arctos'') is a large bear native to Eurasia and North America. Of the land carnivorans, it is rivaled in size only by its closest relative, the polar bear, which is much less variable in size and slightly bigger on av ...

'') are often found. The following plants are typically found in the Gegham Mountains area and surroundings of Azhdahak: * ''

Jurinea ''Jurinea'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. The species are native to Europe, Asia, and northwestern Africa.Arabis ''Arabis'' ,''Sunset Western Garden Book,'' 1995:606–607 or rockcress, is a genus of flowering plants, within the family Brassicaceae. Description The species are herbaceous, annual or perennial plants, growing to 10–80 cm tall, usu ...

caucasica'' * Catsfoot diclinous (''

Antennaria dioica ''Antennaria dioica'' (mountain everlasting, stoloniferous pussytoes, catsfoot or cudweed) is a Eurasian species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It is a perennial herb found in cool northern and mountainous regions of Europe and nort ...

''), * ''

Gentiana ''Gentiana'' () is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the gentian family (Gentianaceae), the tribe Gentianeae, and the monophyletic subtribe Gentianinae. With over 300 species, it is considered a large genus. Gentians are notable for their ...

pontica'' * Red everlasting (''

Helichrysum The genus ''Helichrysum'' consists of an estimated 600 species of flowering plants in the sunflower family (Asteraceae). The type species is '' Helichrysum orientale''. They often go by the names everlasting, immortelle, and strawflower. The na ...

pallasii''), * Lady's-mantle (''

Alchemilla ''Alchemilla'' is a genus of herbaceous perennial plants in the family Rosaceae, with the common name lady's mantle applied generically as well as specifically to ''Alchemilla mollis'' when referred to as a garden plant. The plant used as a herb ...

grossheimii''), * Alpine cinquefoil (''

Potentilla ''Potentilla'' is a genus containing over 500 species of Annual plant, annual, Biennial plant, biennial and Perennial plant, perennial herbaceous plant, herbaceous flowering plants in the rose family (biology), family, Rosaceae. Potentillas m ...

crantzi''), * Sibbaldia (''

Sibbaldia ''Sibbaldia'' is a genus of flowering plants of the family Rosaceae, with a circumpolar distribution, including the high Arctic. The type species is '' Sibbaldia procumbens''. It is also in the Rosoideae subfamily. The genus name of ''Sibbaldia ...

parviflora''), * Merendera Radde (''

Colchicum ''Colchicum'' ( or ) is a genus of perennial plant, perennial flowering plants containing around 160 species which grow from bulb-like corms. It is a member of the botanical family (biology), family Colchicaceae, and is native plant, native to ...

raddeanum''), * Oxytrope Lazica ('' Oxytropis lazica''), * Vavilovia Oshe (''

Lathyrus formosus ''Lathyrus formosus'' is a species of flowering plant in the legume family, Fabaceae. It is an herbaceous perennial which grows primarily in high mountain areas on shale or rocky ground in Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, and the Caucasus. The speci ...

'')

Rock carvings

A great number of

petroglyph A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...

s – carvings have been found in the surroundings of Azhdahak. Most images depict men in scenes of hunting and fighting, as well as astronomical bodies and phenomena: the Sun, the Moon, constellations, the stellar sky, lightning, etc.

Settlements near Azhdahak

In Gegham mountains are engaged the cattle breeding people called

Yazidi Yazidis, also spelled Yezidis (; ), are a Kurdish-speaking endogamous religious group indigenous to Kurdistan, a geographical region in Western Asia that includes parts of Iraq, Syria, Turkey, and Iran. The majority of Yazidis remaining in ...

– one of national minorities of Armenia, who move to the mountains for the summer and live in tents with families and even with infants. The Yazidis are an ethno-confessional group, whose main identity is religion; Yazidism or Sharfadin. Nomadic stockbreeding is their major occupation. The Yazidi society is a caste system including three main components: the Shaykhs, the Pirs (clergy) and murids (laymen).

Tourism and hiking

The beauty of the Azhdahak surroundings have long attracted tourists. However, the probability of running across each other different hiking groups is insignificant. It depends on the remoteness from the civilization, orientation complexities, that aggravate with weather condition factors, such as: thunder and lightning, hail and snow, fog with visibility down to 2-3m.

References

*''Top-pliocene of quaternary volcanos of Armenia SSR, Volcanoes of Gegham and Vardenis volcanic areas'', A.E. Kocharyan, K.G. Shirinyan. * ''The Ethnic Minorities of Armenia'', G. Asatryan and V. Arakelova. *''Handbook of Birds of Armenia'', Martin S. Adamyan and Daniel Klem, Jr., American University of Armenia, 1999, ; and the article "Khosrov forest reserve" by Martin S. Adamyan *''The Alpine Vegetative Cover of Armenia'', S.A. Baloyan.

External links

* * * * {{Mountains of Armenia Mountains of Armenia Volcanoes of Armenia Geography of Gegharkunik Province Tourist attractions in Gegharkunik Province