Beshtau

(from Turkic besh, “five,” and tau, “mountain”), an isolated five-peaked mountain of volcanic origin (laccolith) near Piatigorsk in the North Caucasus. Mount Beshtau is 1,400 m high and is composed of trachyte and liparite. Deciduous forests of ash, oak, hornbeam, and beech grow on its slopes; the summits are bare.