Musa Ler Memorial

The Musa Ler Memorial, on a hill near the village of Musaler, honors the heroic self-defense of the Armenians of Musa Dagh (Musa Ler) during the genocide of 1915, when villagers held out against Ottoman forces for some forty days before being rescued from the Mediterranean coast. Their story inspired Franz Werfel's famous novel "The Forty Days of Musa Dagh." Survivors and their descendants resettled in this area, and each year the memorial hosts a large festival featuring the communal cooking of harissa, a traditional wheat-and-meat porridge. The eagle monument and museum recall a story of resistance and survival, set against views of the Ararat plain.