Mount Ararat forms a near-quadripoint between Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Iran. It is a snow-capped and dormant compound volcano.The Ararat Massif is about 25 miles (40 km) in diameter.Ararat consists of two peaks, their summits about 7 miles (11 km) apart. Great Ararat, which reaches an elevation of 16,945 feet (5,165 metres) above sea level, is the highest peak in Turkey. Little Ararat, rises in a smooth, steep, nearly perfect cone to 12,782 feet (3,896 metres). Both Great and Little Ararat are the product of eruptive volcanic activity.Towering some 14,000 feet (4,300 metres) above the adjoining plains, the snowcapped conical peak of the Great Ararat offers a majestic sight. Ararat traditionally is associated with the mountain on which Noah’s Ark came to rest at the end of the Flood. The name Ararat, as it appears in the Bible, is the Hebrew equivalent of Urardhu, or Urartu, the Assyro-Babylonian name of a kingdom that flourished between the Aras and the Upper Tigris rivers.
