Guide
At 5,137 m Ağrı Dağı, Mount Ararat, is the highest point in Türkiye: a dormant volcanic cone whose summit is under snow all year and carries glaciers that make up the biggest permanent body of ice in the country. It stands out above the plains of eastern Türkiye from a great distance, and its link with the story of Noah's Ark has given the massif a place in sacred texts. The mountain became a national park in 2004.
Several peaks above 3,000 m ring the main cone, their slopes strewn with basalt boulders and lava flows from ancient eruptions; among them lie small lakes, with many birds and rare wild flowers. Ağrı province holds four of Türkiye's highest summits: Greater Ararat (5,137 m); Mount Süphan (4,058 m), whose top is in Bitlis while its north-eastern slopes belong to Ağrı; Lesser Ararat (3,896 m); and Mount Tendürek (3,533 m).
The walking and climbing routes cover the summits of Greater Ararat, Lesser Ararat, Süphan and Köse, as well as the high mountain lakes of Balık and Küp. GPS data for the routes has been published, along with a guidebook describing them in detail. The same province holds fortresses of the Urartian kingdom, remembered for its massive walls and fine metalwork, and the 17th-century İshak Paşa Palace.
When to go
- Climate
- Across Ağrı as a whole, monthly mean temperatures run from -10.4 °C in January to 21.4 °C in August; the mean stays between 15 and 25 °C in June, July, August and September; rainfall is heaviest in April (71 mm) and lightest in August (13 mm). Long-term means for 1940-2025 from the Turkish State Meteorological Service (MGM).
