 The Medieval Armenian historian Movses Khorenatsi recorded in his "History of Armenia" that the Ararat plain was named after King Ara the Handsome, the great-grandson of Amasya.The Ararat plain and the Sevan basin experience abundant sunshine and are the sunniest areas in Armenia, receiving about 2,700 hours of sunshine a year.The shortest duration of sunshine is in mid-mountain areas of the forest zone (about 2,000 hours).