Khndzoresk

Khndzoresk was inhabited until the middle of the twentieth century — not in houses but in caves, cut and extended into the soft volcanic rock of the gorge walls. At its height it was among the largest settlements in the region, with several thousand residents living on terraces stacked above one another.

Villagers moved to the plateau above in the 1950s, and the old town emptied. What remains is a honeycomb of doorways, storerooms and stables, with a small church and a few chapels still standing among them.

A swinging footbridge 160 metres long, built by local residents in 2012, now crosses the gorge and makes the old village easy to reach. It moves underfoot, which is much of its appeal.