Journey to the shadow of Ararat

Audio 48:30

Khor Virap Monastery is a popular pilgrimage site for Armenians and tourists alike who, from its promontory, can enjoy the view of Ararat.

© Diego Delso, delso.photo, License CC-BY-SA

By: Céline Develay Mazurelle Follow

1 min

From the top of its 5,165 meters, Mount Ararat rises sovereign, dominating Yerevan, the Armenian capital.

In the country, it is found almost everywhere, represented in paintings or in photos on the walls of houses, schools or museums, on cigarette packs and bottles of cognac.

Above all, Mount Ararat figures on the coat of arms of the small Caucasus Republic which has long made it a national emblem, the symbol of its rebirth and the resilience of its people through the centuries and the waltz of empires.

Advertising

However, since 1923, this sacred mountain for the Christians of Armenia - Noah's ark would have run aground there - has been located on the Turkish side and remains particularly difficult to access. The border between Armenia and Turkey, very close to Ararat, is in fact double-locked and watched by the Russians. To reach this volcano, you have to go through Georgia and make a detour of 800 kilometers, while as the crow flies, it is only about fifty kilometers.

Thus, Mount Ararat has become a vision for the Armenians, the reflection of their tormented identity and their hopes, an unsurpassable but well and truly tangible horizon, except when its two peaks do not disappear in the clouds.

In October 2020, a year ago, a second Nagorno-Karabakh war broke out between Armenia and Azerbaijan, in eastern Armenia this time.

And this conflict, which will have lasted forty-four days, still resonates right up to the foot of the mythical mountain.

A report by Constance Léon.

Newsletter

Receive all international news directly in your mailbox

I subscribe

Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application

google-play-badge_FR

  • Armenia

  • Turkey

  • Azerbaijan

On the same subject

Vaccination trip to Armenia: Yerevan toughens the rules

So far so close

Armenia, I don't forget