Category: Armenian mountains

I am not afraid to say that the petroglyphs mountain Ughtasar is one of the world’s truly amazing and memorable sites. Only accessible in summer, you will be glad you have made this off-road trip and will wish you could come back again and again to marvel at the petroglyphs and enjoy the supernatural beauty and mysterious silence of the deep and dazzling lakes. Ughtasar – a mountain 3300 meters high above sea level, is snowy even in high summer, even though it is only about 30 km far from Sisian. In 1968, thousands of petroglyphs—ancient rock drawings—were found there, but this magical place still remains unexplored because it is so remote.

 

The people called the place Ughtasar (Camel Mountain), because the mountainous area between Black and Al lakes looks like the hump of a camel.

More than 2000 scattered rock paintings have been found at the base of this mountain, around the small lakes of the volcanic crater, and in the valleys . Most pictograms are engraved on horizontal or vertical surfaces of copper and black cliffs with depths of 2-6 cm, with a width of 2-20 mm.

 

There is Huge variety in the rock paintings. They include hunting, the nature surrounding man, charming family scenes, and cosmic interpretations that suggest sun worshippers once lived there. The oldest rock images show crop and vegetable farming, and are thought to date from the BC. V-IV millenniums. Large images of deer and predators are stamped on the massif cliffs

We will use an off-road vehicle to get to the petroglyphs and, will have an unforgettable lunch there—I’ll bring pork kebabs to barbecue there. It is a great place to eat your first Armenian khorovats. Bring your hiking boots! It will be one full day in total. Because our ability to visit Ughtasar depends on the weather conditions, please plan to visit Camel Mountain in the summer and book your tour well in advance. I will do my best to make it happen.