Khndzoresk, suspension bridge

Khndzoresk is a village and rural community in the south-east of Armenia, in the province of Syunik. Old Khndzoresk cave settlement is set on the right and left slopes of Khor Dzor (Deep Gorge), from which, according to tradition, it got its name. Old Khndzoresk was abandoned in the 1950s; at the same time, New Khndzoresk (the current inhabited area) was built. The village is located at 1580m above sea level.

The exact date for the founding of the village is unknown. It was first mentioned in the 13th century list of villages that paid taxes to Tatev Monastery. At the end of the 19th century, Old Khndzoresk was the biggest village of Eastern Armenia. In the beginning of the 20th century, the community had 8300 inhabitants (1800 households). In 1913 there were 27 shops, 3 dye-houses, tanneries, 7 schools.

Noted for its unique architecture, almost all dwellings are carved in the caves. Better-planned homes with limestone porches and glkhatuns (a stone house with a stepped wooden roof supported by pillars) with additional cave rooms are carved into the lower parts of the slopes. Terraces were built in the face of the geographical features of the area and homes were stacked on top of each other, with the roof of one house often serving as a yard for another. This made the village resemble an enormous multi-story structure going uphill.

Khndzoresk is rich in historic monuments. Both the village and the surrounding area include a settlement, a grave field (2nd-1st millennia B.C.), the remains of the castles of “Aghjka Berd” and “Mkhitar Sparapet fortress” (Khndzoresk fortress), St. Tadevos (17th-18th cc.), Anapat (19th c.) and St. Hripsime (1666) churches, a 9th-10th cc. church, Melik Kasi castle (1836), a school building (1840), cemeteries, an oil-press, reservoirs, springs, medieval khachkars and gravestones.

To boost tourism infrastructure, a 160 m long and maximum 63 m tall metal suspension bridge was commissioned to link the old and the new villages. It was unveiled in 2012.