Director’s Message

​     “Mountains”, one of the most important sources of scenery and natural life, have attracted people's attention in various ways throughout history. Foremost among these mountains is Mount Ararat, often referred to as Ararat in Western sources. On the one hand, its legendary majesty created by its scenic appeal, and on the other hand, the belief that the prophet Noah and his children spread from here to the world, have caused Mount Ararat to become legendary in the historical process and to gain an almost sacred meaning. Mount Ararat, whose legendary majesty has always been the subject of admiration for different nations and religions, was named Aghri Dagh by the Turks, Massis by the Armenians, Jabal ul Haris by the Arabs and Koh i Noah by the Iranians.

       Mount Ararat, one of the mountains on the globe whose name has become legendary and gained sacred meaning, is one of the world's main perfect volcano cones such as Jujiyama Volcano in Japan and Mayon Volcano in the Philippines. Declared a National Park by the Council of Ministers in 2004, Mount Ararat forms an integral part of our national assets with its natural and cultural aspects. 

        Until the 19th century, it is noteworthy that travelers, ambassadors and missionaries wrote predominantly “descriptive” travelogues about their journeys to Mount Ararat. This is often the case in the travelogues of the Italian Marco Polo, the Spanish ambassador Ruy Gonzales de Clavijo, the French explorer-trader Tavernier, the French botanist Joseph Piton de Tournefort and many others who tried to interpret a world completely foreign to them. These travelogues provide information about the cultural life characteristics of the nomadic communities living in Mount Ararat. Such historical research sources also contain important clues that the primitive harmony that existed in the flora and fauna of Mount Ararat was disrupted in the following centuries and ecological destruction was experienced in the region.