Duration 7 hours

Mount Aragats ("Արագած" in Armenian) is the highest point in Armenia, northwest from Yerevan. It is a standalone extinct stratovolcano with four main peaks forming the rim of the crater, and is a popular destination for local alpinists. Located on its slopes are the Byurakan Observatory and the medieval Amberd Fortress. Mount Aragats is a popular destination for tourists, especially in summer.
The 4095-m-high main edifice of Aragats is dissected by glaciers and is of Pliocene-to-Pleistocene age. Satellitic cones and fissures are located on all sides of the volcano and were the source of large lava flows that descended its lower flanks. Several of these were considered to be of Holocene age, but later Potassium-Argon dating indicated mid- to late-Pleistocene ages. The youngest lower-flank flows have not been precisely dated, but are constrained as occurring between the end of the late-Pleistocene and 3000 BC.

Amberd Fortress and Church
Amberd translates to fortress in the clouds in Armenian. It is located 2,300 meters above sea level on the slopes of the Mount Aragats. The fortress was founded in the 7th century as a possession of the noble House of Kamsarakan dynasty. Four centuries later, it was purchased by the Pahlavuni noble family and rebuilt by Vahram Pahlavuni. Vahram fortified the complex with thicker stone walls and added three bastions along the ridge of the Arkhashyan canyon. The domed church was built in 1026 as testified by the inscriptions made on it; it's located between the castle and the edge of hill, looking down on the Arkhashyan river. A bath-house built in the same period and quite unusual for a military installation has also remained moderately intact along with the water supply system.