Igdir

Iğdır lies in the plain between Mount Ararat and the Araks. Its medieval predecessor, known in Armenian as Tsolakert, occupied a defensible site nearer the mountain than the later town. The fortress was taken by Seljuk forces in the eleventh century and became part of the district of Surmari. A severe earthquake in 1664 destroyed the old settlement; survivors moved down to the plain, where a new Iğdır took shape.