[Mehrbod]

Mount Damavand
In Persian: Damâvand

Mt Damavand is the most prominent feature of Iran looming majestically near the southern coast of the Caspian Sea, it has a narrow summit with permanent snowcap, surrounded by many good looking peaks and ridges, in a clear weather the mountain is visible far from 250 km, just below the crater there are few famous glaciers such as Yakhar, Sioleh and Dobi Sel, it is located in Iran Mazandaran province, 80 km north east of capital Tehran, midway Haraz road near Amol city.Mount Damavand is a dormant volcano located in Iran. With the summit reaching 18,406 feet (5,610 m), it is the highest peak in Iran and the Middle East and it is the highest volcano in all of Asia.

Damavand is significant mountain in Persian mythology. It is the symbol of Iranian resistance against despotism and foreign rule in Persian poetry and literature. In Zoroastrian texts and mythology, the three-headed dragon Aži Dahāka was chained within Mount Damāvand, there to remain until the end of the world. In a later version of the same legend, the tyrant Zahhāk was also chained in a cave somewhere in Mount Damāvand after being defeated by Kāveh and Fereydūn. Persian poet Ferdowsi depicts this event in his masterpiece, the Shahnameh:

He brings Zahhak, himself a mountain
to the peak of Damavand and binds his neck

The mountain is said to hold magical powers in the Shahnameh. Damāvand has also been named in the Iranian legend of Arash as the location he fired his arrow to mark the Iran border. The famous poem Damāvand by Mohammad Taqī Bahār is also one fine example of the mountain's significance in Persian literature. The first verse of this poem reads:

[higlight]Oh white giant with feet in chains
Oh dome of the world, Oh Mount Damavand[/higlight]