Арарат: Вулкан в Малом Кавказе и символ Армении

Mountain in the Lesser Caucasus

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. of the massif is located above .

According to Armenian tradition, Aragats originates from the words Ara and gah, which translates to "Ara's throne", in reference to legendary hero Ara the Beautiful. Aragats was mentioned by the early medieval historian Movses Khorenatsi, who in his History of Armenia claims that the mountain is named after , the son of Hayk, the legendary patriarch of the Armenian people. Aramaneak called his possessions "the foot of Aragats" ( or ). The modern Aragatsotn Province, dominated by the mountain, was formed in 1995. A relatively modern name for the mountain is Alagöz (Алагёз), sometimes spelled Alagheuz, which literally means "variegated eye" in Turkish and Azerbaijani. Tsarist Russian, and early Soviet sources. Another version, Alagyaz (Ալագյազ), has been used in Armenian. A village on the foot of Aragats is named Alagyaz.

Aragats is isolated from Armenia's other mountain ranges. However, it is considered part and the highest point of the larger Lesser Caucasus mountain range. It has four summits, which are named according to their relative geographic position:

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. Traces of prehistorical glaciation also exist including thick moraines in the summit area at an altitude of 2,600–3,000 m.

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.

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. According to an ancient Armenian legend, Aragats and Mount Ararat were loving sisters who parted after a quarrel and separated permanently. 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 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 ring around the mountain after a blessing from Catholicos Karekin II. The organizers hoped the event would be included in the Guinness World Records. Prior to the dance, some 110,000 trees were planted on the slopes of Aragats.

The following settlements are located on the slopes or foot of Aragats: Ashtarak, Artik, Aparan, Talin, Oshakan, Byurakan.

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. One source calls Amberd the "biggest and the best preserved fortress" in modern day Armenia. The Alphabet Park (Tar’eri purak) 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. 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.

The Aragats Cosmic Ray Research Station is a cosmic ray observatory near Lake Kari, at around 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
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 It made Armenia one of the world's centers for the study of astrophysics in the 20th century. 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.

On the highway leading to fortress Amberd is a gravity hill, 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 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.

Mount Aragats plays a special role in Armenian history and culture. Along with Ararat, it is considered a sacred mountain for the Armenians. used especially in areas surrounding the mountain. Mt. Aragats is often associated with Gyumri, 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 banknote (in use since 2003) in the background of Avetik Isahakyan, a poet born in Gyumri. Numerous Armenian poets (e. g., Avetik Isahakyan) have written about Aragats. Marietta Shaginyan compared Aragats to a "half open bud of a giant pomegranate flower". In one short poem, Silva Kaputikyan compares Armenia to an "ancient rock carved fortress", the towers of which are Mount Aragats and Mount Ararat. Numerous artists have painted Aragats. Some examples of paintings of Aragats are kept at the National Gallery of Armenia.