An Armenian legend tells of a princess, a fire on an island shore, and a love that lives on in the name Akhtamar.

Long ago, King Artashes had a daughter named Tamar, whose beauty was known far beyond his kingdom. Princes and kings sent messengers to ask for her hand, but she refused them all.

The king began to fear that one of her rejected suitors might wage war against his kingdom and carry Tamar away. To protect her, he ordered a golden palace to be built on an island in Lake Van.

But Artashes did not know that his daughter had already given her heart to someone. Her beloved was neither a king nor a prince, but an ordinary young man.

Each evening, Tamar lit a fire on the island’s shore. Across the dark waters, her beloved watched for its glow. Then he would enter the lake and swim towards her, following the light through the night.

The flame was his guide, leading him across the water to the woman he loved.

One evening, a terrible storm swept over Lake Van. The wind rose, the waves grew fierce, and Tamar’s fire went out.

Without its light, the young man lost his way. Surrounded by darkness and rough water, he could no longer tell which direction would bring him to the island.

“Ah, Tamar!” he called into the storm.

He cried out for his beloved until his voice was lost beneath the waves.

According to the legend, the island came to be called Akhtamar, preserving the young man’s final cry. In its name, the story remembers Tamar’s light and the love that once crossed the dark waters of Lake Van.