Template:Short description Template:Redirect Template:Distinguish Template:Infobox mountain
Mount Aragats (Template:Langx, {{#invoke:IPA|main}}) is an isolated four-peaked volcano massif in Armenia. Its northern summit, at Template:Convert 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.Template:Efn
The Aragats massif is surrounded by the Kasagh River on the east, the Akhurian River on the west, Ararat Plain on the south, and Shirak Plain on the north.<ref name="cadastre"/> The circumference of the massif is around Template:Convert,Template:Sfn<ref name="Nazarian"/> and covers an area of Template:Convert<ref name="encyclopedia.am"/> or around Template:Frac of Armenia's total area.Template:Efn Template:Convert of the massif is located above Template:Convert.Template:Sfn
Etymology and namesEdit
According to Armenian tradition, the name of Aragats originates from the words Template:Transliteration and Template:Transliteration, which translates to "Ara's throne", in reference to the legendary hero Ara the Handsome.<ref name="armgeo"/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Aragats was mentioned by the early medieval historian Movses Khorenatsi, who in his History of Armenia claims that the mountain is named after Template:Ill, the son of Hayk, the legendary patriarch of the Armenian people. Aramaneak called his possessions "the foot of Aragats" (Template:Langx or Template:Langx).<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The modern Aragatsotn Province, dominated by the mountain, was formed in 1995.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
A relatively modern name for the mountain is Alagöz (Template:Langx), sometimes spelled Alagheuz,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> which literally means "variegated eye"<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> in Turkish and Azerbaijani.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="slavrev"/> This term was widely used up until the mid-20th century in European,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Tsarist Russian,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and early Soviet<ref name="slavrev">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> sources. Another version, Alagyaz ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}), has been used in Armenian.<ref name="Nazarian"/><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>Template:Efn A village on the foot of Aragats is named Alagyaz.
Geography and geologyEdit
Aragats is isolated from Armenia's other mountain ranges.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> However, it is considered part and the highest point of the larger Lesser Caucasus mountain range.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> It has four summits, which are named according to their relative geographic position:<ref name="armgeo"/>
- Northern—Template:Convert
- Western—Template:Convert
- Eastern—Template:Convert
- Southern—Template:Convert
Mount Aragats has a topographic prominence of 2,143 meters, more than some higher mountains, such as Dykh-Tau (5,205 m high) in the Russian part of Great Caucasus Range.
Situated Template:Convert northwest of the Armenian capital Yerevan, Aragats is a large volcano with numerous fissure vents 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 Template:Convert long line of cones which generated possibly Holocene-age lahars and lava flow.<ref name="gvp" /> 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.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
GlaciationEdit
Shortly after World War II, observations noted the presence of firn 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.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Traces of prehistorical glaciation also exist including thick moraines in the summit area at an altitude of 2,600–3,000 m.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
ClimateEdit
HistoryEdit
GeologicalEdit
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 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 and andesitic 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 River basin. The fourth stage (0.56–0.45 Ma) involved mafic lava flows from parasitic vents in the southern parts of the volcano.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
CulturalEdit
Numerous engravings have been made around the volcano, including rock paintings portraying animals and human-like figures in the Kasagh River 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
According to an ancient Armenian legend, Aragats and Mount Ararat were loving sisters who parted after a quarrel and separated permanently.<ref name="Abrahamian"/> Another legend tells that Gregory 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."<ref name="Abrahamian" />
In 1935, on the 15th anniversary of Armenia's Sovietization, around one thousand people climbed the summit of Aragats from five directions.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> On May 28, 2005—the anniversary of the establishment of the First Republic of Armenia—around 250,000 people participated in a Dance of Unity (Template:Langx) around Mount Aragats in a mass display of national unity. The quarter million participants, among them then-President Robert Kocharyan and Defense Minister Serzh Sargsyan, formed a Template:Convert ring around the mountain after a blessing from Catholicos Karekin II.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The organizers hoped the event would be included in the Guinness World Records.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Prior to the dance, some 110,000 trees were planted on the slopes of Aragats.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Nearby settlementsEdit
The following settlements are located on the slopes or foot of Aragats: Ashtarak,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Artik, Aparan, Talin, Oshakan, Byurakan.
Main sightsEdit
Historic and cultural sitesEdit
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.<ref name="Abrahamian"/>
The 4th-century mausoleum of the Arsacid (Arshakuni) dynasty is located in the village of Aghtsk, on the slopes of Aragats.<ref name="Abrahamian"/>
The early medieval fortress of Amberd and the nearby 11th-century Vahramashen Church are located on the slopes of Aragats, at an altitude of Template:Convert.<ref name="Ghafadaryan">Template:Cite book</ref> One source calls Amberd the "biggest and the best preserved fortress" in modern-day Armenia.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}Template:Dead link</ref>
The Alphabet Park (Template:Transliteration) is located near the village of Artashavan. It was founded in 2005 on the 1600th anniversary of the invention of the Armenian alphabet. It features sculptures of the 39 letters of the Armenian alphabet and statues of notable Armenians, such as Mesrop Mashtots (the inventor of the alphabet), Armenia's national poet Hovhannes Tumanyan, Khachatur Abovian (father of modern Eastern Armenian literature), and others.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2012, a Template:Convert 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Scientific institutionsEdit
The Aragats Cosmic Ray Research Station is a cosmic-ray observatory near Lake Kari, at around Template:Convert above sea level. It was founded in 1943 by the brothers Artem Alikhanian and Abram Alikhanov. The Nor-Amberd station, built in 1960, is located at Template:Convert.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The Byurakan Observatory, established in 1946 by Victor Ambartsumian, is located on the southern slopes of Aragats, near the village of Byurakan, at an altitude of Template:Convert.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It made Armenia one of the world's centers for the study of astrophysics in the 20th century.Template:Sfn
The ROT-54/2.6, a radio telescope built in 1985 by the radiophysicist Paris Herouni in the village of Orgov, on the slopes of Aragats.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Gravity hillEdit
On the highway leading to fortress Amberd is a gravity hill,<ref name=Aragatsmystery>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> which has become a tourist attraction, due to an optical illusion leading to a downhill slope appearing to be uphill.
Mount Aragats hikeEdit
Mount Aragats is a popular hiking destination<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.Template:Citation needed
In cultureEdit
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Mount Aragats plays a special role in Armenian history and culture. Along with Ararat, it is considered a sacred mountain for the Armenians.<ref name="Abrahamian"/>
Aragats is a male first name in Armenia,<ref>As of 2022, there are 161 people named Aragats in Armenia's voters list. {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> used especially in areas surrounding the mountain.Template:EfnTemplate:Citation needed
Mt. Aragats is often associated with Gyumri, Armenia's second-largest city. The mountain is depicted on the coat of arms of Gyumri.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It is also depicted on the obverse side of the 10,000 Armenian dram banknote (in use since 2003) in the background of Avetik Isahakyan, a poet born in Gyumri.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Numerous Armenian poets (e.g., Avetik Isahakyan)<ref name="encyclopedia.am"/><ref>Արագածին</ref> have written about Aragats. Marietta Shaginyan compared Aragats to a "half-open bud of a giant pomegranate flower".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In one short poem, Silva Kaputikyan compares Armenia to an "ancient rock-carved fortress", the towers of which are Mount Aragats and Mount Ararat.
In visual artEdit
Numerous artists have painted Aragats. Some examples of paintings of Aragats are kept at the National Gallery of Armenia.Template:Citation needed
- Արագած (1905) Գևորգ Բաշինջաղյան.jpg
Gevorg Bashinjaghian, 1905
- Արագած լեռը (1917) Եղիշե Թադևոսյան.jpg
Yeghishe Tadevosyan, 1917
- Արագած Փանոս Թերլեմեզյան.jpg
Panos Terlemezian, probably 1941
GalleryEdit
- Aragats 2019-05-12.jpg
- Aragats 1112.jpg
- Aragats from Gyumri 1.jpg
- Aragats from mt. Guthanasar - panoramio.jpg
- Aragats in snow.jpg
- Aragats, view from Tsaghkunyatc - panoramio (1).jpg
- Aragats from airplane.jpg
- Mount Aragats 23.jpg
- 27 - Le mont Aragats.JPG
- Aragats crater 26.jpg
- Lake on mount Aragats - Լիճ Արագած լեռան վրա.jpg
See alsoEdit
NotesEdit
ReferencesEdit
SourcesEdit
Template:Sister project Template:Mountains of Armenia Template:Armenia topics Template:Ultras of Europe Template:Highest points of Asia Template:Highest points of Europe Template:Authority control