Mount Aragats is an isolated four-peaked volcano massif in Armenia. Its northern summit, at 4,090 m (13,420 ft) 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.
Mount Aragats
Mount Aragats, topographic representation
Aerial view of Aragats: a 2001 photo from the International Space Station
Arshakid Mausoleum.
The Armenian highlands is the most central and the highest of the three plateaus that together form the northern sector of West Asia. Clockwise starting from the west, the Armenian highlands are bounded by the Anatolian plateau, the Caucasus, the Kura-Aras lowlands, the Iranian Plateau, and Mesopotamia. The highlands are divided into western and eastern regions, defined by the Ararat Valley where Mount Ararat is located. Western Armenia is nowadays referred to as eastern Anatolia, and Eastern Armenia as the Lesser Caucasus or Caucasus Minor, and historically as the Anti-Caucasus, meaning "opposite the Caucasus".
The Armenian highlands near the Iran–Turkey border
Satellite image
Mount Artos, Lake Van, from Akhtamar Island
Lake Akdoğan