
Geography – Mount Ararat (Turkish: Ağrı Dağı) is a snow-capped (from 4,200 masl) and dormant compound volcano in the extreme east of Turkey. It is located in Eastern Anatolia on Armenian Highlands. It belongs to two provinces Iğdır and Ağrı.
It consists of two major volcanic cones:
1) Greater Ararat, the highest peak in Turkey and the Armenian plateau with an elevation of 5,137 masl (16,854 ft);
2) Little Ararat, with an elevation of 3,896 masl (12,782 ft). The Ararat massif is about 40 km (25 mi) in diameter.
Political borders – Mount Ararat forms a near-quadripoint between Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Iran. Its summit is located some 16 km (10 mi) west of both the Iranian border and the border of the Nakhchivan exclave of Azerbaijan, and 32 km (20 mi) south of the Armenian border. The Turkish-Iran border crosses the edge of the eastern foothills of Little Ararat. The Turkish–Armenian–Azerbaijani and Turkish–Iranian–Azerbaijani tripoints are some 8 km apart, separated by a narrow strip of Turkish territory containing the E99 road which enters Nakhchivan at 39.6553°N 44.8034°E.
The first efforts to reach Ararat’s summit were made in the Middle Ages. However, it was not until 1829 when Friedrich Parrot and Khachatur Abovian, accompanied by four others, made the first recorded ascent.
Noah’s Ark Legend – Ararat plays a part in the Christian tradition (not only there but also in Judaism and Islam), according to the book of Genesis at the foot of Ararat, Noes landed in the Ark after the flood of the Flood.
Despite the scholarly consensus that the “mountains of Ararat” of the Book of Genesis do not refer to specifically Mt. Ararat, it has been widely accepted in Abrahamic religions as the resting place of Noah’s Ark. It is the principal national symbol of Armenia and has been considered a sacred mountain by Armenians. It is featured prominently in Armenian literature and art and is an icon for Armenian irredentism. Along with Noah’s Ark, it is depicted on the coat of arms of Armenia.
History – From the 16th century until 1828 Great Ararat’s summit and the northern slopes, along with the eastern slopes of Little Ararat were part of Persia, while the range was part of the Ottoman-Persian border. Following the 1826–28 Russo-Persian War and the Treaty of Turkmenchay, the Persian controlled territory was ceded to the Russian Empire. Little Ararat became the point where the Turkish, Persian, and Russian imperial frontiers converged. The current international boundaries were formed throughout the 20th century. The mountain came under Turkish control during the 1920 Turkish–Armenian War.It formally became part of Turkey according to the 1921 Treaty of Moscow and Treaty of Kars. In the late 1920s, Turkey crossed the Iranian border and occupied the eastern flank of Lesser Ararat as part of its effort to quash the Kurdish Ararat rebellion. The Kurdish rebels were using the area “as a haven against the state in their uprising.”Iran eventually agreed to cede the area to Turkey in a territorial exchange. The Iran-Turkey boundary skirts east of Lesser Ararat, the lower peak of the Ararat massif
(Source: wikipedia.org)