There have been a time that Khndzoresk was the largest village of Eastern Armenia.

Every person that is interested in ancient history has to make a trip to Armenia at least once. Armenia is beautiful with its ancient history, with its ancient places, churches, monasteries. Khndzoresk is one of them.
Not every village in Armenia can afford to offer a whole bunch if activities. The Village of Khndzoresk is a huge complex with an interesting things-to-see list, which especially in the recent years has called many tourists.
Khndzoresk is a village and rural community in the South-East of Armenia, in the province (marz) of Syunik. The village is located to the right of Goris – Stepanakert highway, on the steep slopes of Khor Dzor (Deep Gorge), from which, according to tradition, it got its name.
While to many foreigners the naming will sound too strange and to many locals it will seem that the root of the naming is “khndzor,” which means “apple” in English, the naming has a completely other interpretation. The village was built in a deep gorge, and was initially named “Khor Dzor” or “Khordzoresk” meaning “deep gorge.” Later modifications caused the village to be named “Khndzoresk” but it still retained its meaning.
Old Khndzoresk is widely famous for its canyon with picturesque rock formations and ancient cave settlement. The historic cave village, located on the steep slope of a gorge, is comprised of both natural and manmade caves. The artificial caves, some of which are currently used as stables and warehouses, used to be inhabited till the 1950s. In the bottom of the gorge there is St.Hripsime church, dated back to 17th century. On a spur beyond on the right side of the gorge there is Anapat (hermitage) with the tomb of Mkhitar Sparapet. The cave church of St.Tatevos can also be found nearby.
In 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. The village is famous for taking part in the liberation movement of David Bek. The fortress of Khndzoresk served as a military base for Mkhitar Sparapet in 1728-1730. In 1735 the village was visited by Catholicos (Head of Armenian Apostolic Church) Abraham Kretatsi who gave a thorough description of the community in his chronicles. During the 1980s, an additional village sprouted 7km from Khndzoresk due to resizing and political unrest. This village, considerably smaller than Khndzoresk, is called Lower Khndzoresk, or Nerkin Khndzoresk.
Kndzoresl village is famous with Swinging Bridge. The festive opening of this bridge took place on June 9, 2012. It was built by Khndzoresk businessman Zhora Aleksanyan in memory of his parents.
The swinging bridge is 160 meters long, 1,5 meters wide and rises 36 meters above the ground. The bridge connects the two banks of the village. The goal of having this bridge was to attract tourists to the village. The view of the gorge from the bridge is splendid and it’s better to see it once than to hear about it a thousand times. The bridge yet doesn’t have any official naming, but the people of Khndzoresk have named it “Zhoora’s Bridge.”
Khndzoresk Village: Nine Children Fountain and its Legend
The bridge of Khndzoresk not only connects the two banks of the village but also makes it easier to reach and see the four churches and the popular fountain known as the “Nine Children.” Especially interesting is the legend in regard to this fountain.
A legend has it that an attack on the Village of Khndzoresk caused the local women and girls to join the men and struggle for liberation. During the struggle Sona, a widow and mother of 9 children died. In memory of his daughter Master Ohan who was Sona’s father built a fountain the basin of which appears like a breast. It is possible to drink water from the basin only if you lie prostrate on the two hands. It is said that upon completing the construction of the fountain Ohan reached out to a saint saying, “ I beg you sacred fountain, let the water of the fountain turn into Sona’s breast milk and protect my orphaned grandchildren.