Mount Damavand Day to celebrate iconic cloudy-head giant

Mount Damavand, located in northeast of Tehran, is the highest peak in Iran.

The 13th day of Teer Month, 4th of July this year, is the national day of Mount Damavand in the Iranian calendar.

The 5670-m high mountain, a potentially active volcano, is a stratovolcano in the middle of Alborz Mountains Range, near the southern coast of the Caspian Sea, in Mazandaran Province.

The highest peak in Iran and the highest volcano in Asia is a significant mountain in Persian mythology and folklore; the symbol of Iranian resistance against tyranny and foreign rule in Persian poetry and literature.

One of the most famous lines in Persian literature by Mohammad-Taqi Bahar about the mountain reads “O’ white captivated-feet giant / O’ dome of the universe, O’ Damavand.”

Mount Damavand is the 12th most prominent peak in the world and the second most prominent in Asia after Mount Everest. It is part of the Volcanic Seven Summits mountaineering challenge.

Since 2008, the mountain has been nationally registered as the first natural and historical monument by the cultural heritage ministry.

The first program of Damavand National Day, held in June 2004, was accompanied by hundreds of climbers to symbolically collect the waste in the mountainous area. Since then, a special program has annually been conducted to mark the day.

MG/MG