The Aragats massif is surrounded by theKasagh River on the east, theAkhurian River on the west,Ararat Plain on the south, andShirak Plain on the north.[2] The circumference of the massif is around 200 km (120 mi),[10][9] and covers an area of 6,000 km2 (2,300 sq mi)[11] or around1⁄5 of Armenia's total area.[b] 944 km2 (364 sq mi) of the massif is located above 2,000 m (6,600 ft).[13]
According to Armenian tradition, the name of Aragats originates from the wordsAra andgah, which translates to "Ara's throne", in reference to the legendary heroAra the Handsome.[5][14] Aragats was mentioned by the early medieval historianMovses Khorenatsi, who in hisHistory of Armenia claims that the mountain is named afterAramaneak [hy], the son ofHayk, the legendary patriarch of the Armenian people. Aramaneak called his possessions "the foot of Aragats" (Old Armenian:ոտն Արագածոյ,romanized: otn Aragatsoy orԱրագածոտն,Aragatsotn).[15][16] The modernAragatsotn Province, dominated by the mountain, was formed in 1995.[17]
A relatively modern name for the mountain isAlagöz (Russian:Алагёз), sometimes spelledAlagheuz,[18][19] which literally means "variegated eye"[20] inTurkish andAzerbaijani.[21][22] This term was widely used up until the mid-20th century in European,[23]Tsarist Russian,[24] and early Soviet[22][25] sources. Another version,Alagyaz (Ալագյազ), has been used in Armenian.[9][26][27][c] Avillage on the foot of Aragats is named Alagyaz.
Mount Aragats, topographic representationAerial view of Aragats: a 2001 photo from theInternational Space Station
Aragats is isolated from Armenia's other mountain ranges.[29] However, it is considered part and the highest point of the largerLesser Caucasus mountain range.[30][31] It has four summits, which are named according to their relative geographic position:[5]
Situated 40 kilometres (25 mi) northwest of the Armenian capitalYerevan, Aragats is a large volcano with numerousfissure vents andadventive 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 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) long line of cones which generated possibly Holocene-agelahars and lava flow.[1] 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.[32]
Shortly after World War II, observations noted the presence offirn 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.[33] Traces of prehistorical glaciation also exist including thick moraines in the summit area at an altitude of 2,600–3,000 m.[34]
The volcano was constructed in four different phases. The first phase (possibly 2.5 Ma) occurred in the main crater and subsidiary vents and wasbasaltic andesite in composition. It crops out in deep gorges. The second phase (0.97–0.89 Ma, byK–Ar) involved the main vent, and subsidiary structures and wasbasaltic andandesitic 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 theMantash River basin. The fourth stage (0.56–0.45 Ma) involvedmafic lava flows from parasitic vents in the southern parts of the volcano.[37]
Numerous engravings have been made around the volcano, including rock paintings portraying animals and human-like figures in theKasagh River valley possibly dating to the early Holocene, and inAghavnatun on the southern side of the volcano including petroglyphs showing animals that were possibly created in the 4th to 1st millennia BCE.[38]
According to an ancient Armenian legend, Aragats andMount Ararat were loving sisters who parted after a quarrel and separated permanently.[39] Another legend tells thatGregory the Illuminator, 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."[39]
In 1935, on the 15th anniversary ofArmenia's Sovietization, around one thousand people climbed the summit of Aragats from five directions.[40] On May 28, 2005—the anniversary of the establishment of theFirst Republic of Armenia—around 250,000 people participated in a Dance of Unity (Armenian:Միասնության շուրջպար) around Mount Aragats in a mass display of national unity. The quarter million participants, among them then-PresidentRobert Kocharyan and Defense MinisterSerzh Sargsyan, formed a 163-kilometre (101 mi) ring around the mountain after a blessing from CatholicosKarekin II.[41][42][43] The organizers hoped the event would be included in theGuinness World Records.[44] Prior to the dance, some 110,000 trees were planted on the slopes of Aragats.[45]
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.[39]
The early medieval fortress ofAmberd and the nearby 11th-centuryVahramashen Church are located on the slopes of Aragats, at an altitude of 2,300 m (7,500 ft).[47] One source calls Amberd the "biggest and the best preserved fortress" in modern-day Armenia.[48]
The Alphabet Park (Tar’eri purak) is located near the village ofArtashavan. It was founded in 2005 on the 1600th anniversary of the invention of theArmenian alphabet. It features sculptures of the 39 letters of theArmenian alphabet and statues of notable Armenians, such asMesrop Mashtots (the inventor of the alphabet), Armenia's national poetHovhannes Tumanyan,Khachatur Abovian (father of modern Eastern Armenian literature), and others.[49] In 2012, a 33-metre (108 ft) 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.[50]
TheByurakan Observatory, established in 1946 byVictor Ambartsumian, is located on the southern slopes of Aragats, near the village ofByurakan, at an altitude of 1,405 m (4,610 ft).[52] It made Armenia one of the world's centers for the study ofastrophysics in the 20th century.[53]
On the highway leading to fortress Amberd is agravity hill,[55] which has become a tourist attraction, due to an optical illusion leading to a downhill slope appearing to be uphill.
Mount Aragats is a popular hiking destination[56] 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.[citation needed]
Mt. Aragats is often associated withGyumri, Armenia's second-largest city. The mountain is depicted on the coat of arms of Gyumri.[60] It is also depicted on the obverse side of the 10,000Armenian dram banknote (in use since 2003) in the background ofAvetik Isahakyan, a poet born in Gyumri.[61]
Numerous Armenian poets (e.g., Avetik Isahakyan)[11][62] have written about Aragats.Marietta Shaginyan compared Aragats to a "half-open bud of a giantpomegranate flower".[63] In one short poem,Silva Kaputikyan compares Armenia to an "ancient rock-carved fortress", the towers of which are Mount Aragats andMount Ararat.
^Because the Armenian Highlands is not a well-defined area, sources vary greatly on where Aragats ranks. Some sources call it the second highest (afterMount Ararat in Turkey),[5][6] others the third highest (after Ararat andSüphan, also in Turkey)[7][8] and some the fourth highest (after Ararat,Sabalan in Iran, and Süphan).[9]
^Armenia's territory is 29,743 km2.[12] 6,000 is its 20.2%.
^Two examples of notable people named Aragats include Aragats Akhoyan, member of the parliament, born inDzorap.[58] and Aragats Mkrtchyan, a veteran of theFirst Nagorno-Karabakh War, fromTalin.[59] Both of these settlements are located in theAragatsotn Province.
^abc"Արագած".armgeo.am (in Armenian). Armenian Geographic. 27 May 2015.
^Aslani︠a︡n, A. T. (1973). "Yerevan-Southern Summit of Aragats Volcano".Guide-book of Excursions of the All-union Conference for the Study of the Quaternary Period: Armenian SSR. Academy of Sciences of the Armenian SSR Institute of Geological Sciences. p. 72.By its height among the highest peaks of the Armenian highland Aragats gives way only to Ararat — the famous biblical mountain that rises for more than 1 km.
^Hewsen, Robert H.;Anania Shirakatsi (1992).The Geography of Ananias of Širak: Ašxarhacʻoycʻ, the Long and the Short Recensions. Reichert. p. 217.ISBN9783882264852.The highest peak in the Armenian SSR, Aragac is the third highest mountain on the Armenian plateau after Ararat (16,916 ft. /5172 m), and Sip'an (Subhan, 14,543/4434).
^Smith, Adam T. (2009). "Regional Investigations in the Tsaghkahovit Plain: Orientation and Methodology".The Foundations of Research and Regional Survey in the Tsaghkahovit Plain, Armenia. Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. p. 95.ISBN9781885923622.Aragats is the third highest peak in the Armenian Highland after Great Ararat (5,165 m a.s.l.) and Süphan Dağı (4,434 m a.s.l.).
^"Արագած".encyclopedia.am (in Armenian).Armenian Encyclopedia Publishing.ՙԱրագած՚ անվանումը, ըստ ավանդության, ծագել է ՙԱրա՚ անունից և ՙգահ՚ բառից: Ասել է թե՝ Արայի գահ (խոսքը Հայոց թագավոր Արա Գեղեցիկի մասին է):
^Harutyunyan, Sargis[in Armenian] (1987). "Հերոսներ" [Heroes].Հայ հին վիպաշխարհը [The Ancient Armenian Epic World] (in Armenian). Yerevan: Arevik. pp. 45–46.
^Holding, Deirdre (2014).Armenia: with Nagorno Karabagh. Bradt Travel Guides. p. 159.ISBN978-1841625553.Aragatsotn Province. The province whose name means 'foot of Aragats' comprises the land around Mount
^Barnett, R. D. (1982). "Urartu".Cambridge Ancient History Volume III (second ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 318.ISBN0521224969....slopes of Mount Aragats (modern Turkish Alagoz).
^ab"How Ordzhonikidze Helped Save a Framed Engineer".The Current Digest of the Soviet Press.16.American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies: 15. 1964.In July, 1928, on an assignment from my editors, I was climbing the extinct volcano in Armenia [Mt. Aragats] that at the time still bore its Turkish name, Alagoz.
^"Алагез [Alagez]".Soviet Military Encyclopedia Volume I (in Russian). 1932. p. 387.Алагез (армян. Арагац), изолированный горный массив в ССР Армении к С.-З. от г. Эривань.
^Der Nersessian, Sirarpie (1969).The Armenians. New York: Praeger. p. 11....the Alagoz (Aragats, 4180 m.) to the North of Mount Ararat...
^Melikset-Bek, Levon[in Armenian] (1956)."Ի. Գրիշաշվիլին և հայ գրականությունը" [I. Grishashvili and Armenian literature].Bulletin of the Academy of Sciences of the Armenian SSR: Social Sciences (in Armenian) (2): 29.Ավ. Իսահակյանն [...] հայ բանաստեղծի շրթերում հնչում է Ալագյազ-Արագածը...
^Sargsyan, Arpine (22 February 2011)."Alagyaz".culturalcaucasus.org. Cultural Caucasus.
^"Researching Forest Raptors on Armenia's Highest Peak".Russian Conservation News (35–42): 32. 2004.At 4,090 meters above sea level, Mt. Aragats is Armenia's tallest mountain massif. It is located in the central part of the republic, in Aragatsotn Region, where it is isolated from the rest of the country's mountain ranges.
^Chernyshev, I.V.; Lebedev, V. A.; Arakelyants, M. M.; Jrbashyan, R. T.; Gukasyan, Yu. G. (May 2002). "Quaternary geochronology of the Aragats volcanic center, Armenia: Evidence from K-Ar dating".Doklady Earth Sciences.384 (4):393–398.
^Sekoyan, V. (1987). "Տուրիզմ [Tourism]".Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia Volume 13 (in Armenian). Yerevan. p. 324.1935-ին, Հայաստանում սովետական կարգերի հաստատման 15-ամյակի կապակցությամբ, ավելի քան 1000 մարդ 5 տարբեր կետից բարձրացել է Արագածի գագաթը։{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Kaeter, Margaret (2004).The Caucasian Republics. Infobase Publishing. p. 68.ISBN9780816052684.In between Gyumri and Yerevan lies Mount Aragats, the highest mountain currently in Armenia, at about 14,000 feet. Ashtarak, the closest town of any size, has 20,000 people...
^As of 2022, there are 161 people named Aragats in Armenia's voters list."Արագած (Aragats)".anun.am (in Armenian). Archived fromthe original on 5 January 2023.
^"Aragats Akhoyan".parliament.am. National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia.
^Mikhaĭlov, Nikolaĭ Nikolaevich (1988).A Book About Russia: In the Union of Equals: Descriptions, Impressions, the Memorable. Progress Publishers. p. 109.Aragats, the highest mountain in Armenia, rises with its split white cone, like the half-open bud of a giant pomegranate flower, to use the words of the well-known Soviet writer Marietta Shaginyan.
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