The Legend of the Anahit Lake on the Top of Mount Ararat

Legends say that the top of Mount Ararat is crowned by a lake of extraordinary beauty. We will speak about one of the oldest of those legends known to the inhabitants of the Ararat Valley.

Once upon a time, the goddess of fertility and love, golden-haired Anahit walked past the floating clouds and fell in love with the great mountain Ararat gleaming in the fog.

Her love was so strong that she left the waters of the Araks River every moonlit night and sleeplessly wandered through the valley, confessing her love and affection to the top of Mount Ararat.

Anahit’s days were filled with unrequited love. The great Ararat was silent, and this silence ripped Anahit’s heart and soul apart.

Forgetting shame and circumspection, the goddess could no longer endure and climbed the mountain. Covering her seductive body with the morning mist, she turned with words of affection to her love. These words flew out of her mouth like beautiful birds, but Ararat remained distant, indifferent, and cold.

Then the rejected, embarrassed goddess fell to her knees, and there, on the top of the mountain, sobbed openly, no longer holding back her tears, which flowed from her eyes like rivers.

Only these tears could comfort her in her boundless sorrow. Anahit cried for a long time until her tears formed a lake on top of Mount Ararat. And that’s why it is called Lake Anahit.