The hilly city of Goris has a fantastical setting below the fairy chimneys of the Zangezur Mountains. Carved into these features are homes that make up a small city. As bizarre as this view may be, it is not the only cave city in the area. You can explore a few others located only a few kilometres away, including the largest, Khndzoresk. With multiple cave cities and an enthralling town, you have plenty of reasons to add the cave cities of Goris and Khndzoresk to your Armenian itinerary.
Come with us as we explore this fanciful land, beginning in Goris.
To go directly to Khndoresk, click here.
Goris Stone Forest
Once you see Goris’ pinnacle-covered hills, you will be instantly captivated. Called the Stone Forest, their dystopian look comes from hundreds of natural rock pillars that cover the slopes. These chimneys were formed over centuries when the volcanic tuff, which was many layers deep, was eroded by wind and rain. Often, they have a denser layer on top that doesn’t erode as quickly, resulting in these unusual shapes.
The fairy chimneys are said to resemble Cappadocia, and they do, but in a much smaller version.
The volcanic tuff rock was relatively easy to carve, allowing people to create hand-dug caves in the pillars. Many suggest that they were inhabited as far back as the 5th century, but it’s more commonly called a medieval cave city.
In the Middle Ages, the region was frequently attacked by the Seljuks of Turkey, the Mongols and Persian dynasties. Locals discovered an ingenious way to hide by building hundreds of homes in these tuff chimneys. Not only were homes carved into these oddly shaped rocks, but also churches, wine cellars and stables. They were indeed cities, and there were several in the area. This one above Goris was called Kores.
Pathways allow you to walk between the hoodoos so you can get a closer look at them. Today, the cave city has been abandoned, but as you explore, you can find typical home accents such as shelves and seats carved into the rock walls. Incredibly, locals continued to inhabit these caves for many generations while under the various rulers of Persia and Armenia.
Old Goris
The unbelievable scenes continue as you wander through Old Town, where homes were built below the Stone Forest. They’re so close in fact, that many have fairy chimneys right in their yards. To make it look even more like a storybook, a few of these stone towers have small doors and windows and look to still be in use today.
Goris
Stone Forest residents were relocated across the river when it came under Russian control at the beginning of the 19th century. The new city of Goris was a planned city, designed by an architecture student who also happened to be a relative of the Governor. Other reports say it was a German architect. Whomever it was, they designed an eye-catching downtown with stone and brick houses lining organized streets. It is much different than typical Armenian cities, which are filled with Soviet architecture.
We found that even the streets away from downtown have nicely kept homes, clean streets and very pleasant neighbourhoods. There may not be any famous sites to see, but you can find a few gems, making it worthwhile to allow time to explore the city of Goris.
The only other Armenian city that is similar is the reconstructed Gyumri. You can read about the city in our post Things To See In Gyumri.
In its centre is the large, open Grigor Tatevatski Square surrounded by two-story stone buildings and an out-of-place Eiffel Tower statue at one end. A block away is the more lively Memorial Square, filled with rose gardens and coffee shops.
In addition to the Stone Forest, Goris is also connected to a part of Armenia’s more recent history. Located only 20 km from the Azerbaijani border, Goris is the closest Armenian city to the disputed Artsakh conflict region. Artsakh is situated in Azerbaijan, where it is called Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenians have been living in part of this region for generations, but when the Soviets left, the borders were redrawn, and this small community found itself in Azerbaijan. Fearing ethnic cleansing in Artsakh, in 2023, over 100,000 ethnic Armenians fled through the narrow Lachin Corridor and into Armenia. Most passed through Goris and were housed in the Drama Theatre.
The conflict has ceased, at least for now, and the city of Goris feels worlds away from a war zone. The streets are clean and quiet, and the people are some of the friendliest we met in all of Armenia.
Goris Viewpoint
A viewpoint above town lets you appreciate the oasis that Goris calls home. It is a lush green strip running between barren hills. From here, it looked to us as if the farmers’ fields on the high plateau above might drop off the edge of the steep cliffs.
There’s a similar lookout on the other end of the city called Bells of Goris.
Getting to Goris
You can take a marshrutka between Goris and Yerevan, but they are often full. We flagged one down as it was passing us on the highway in Areni. We didn’t realize at the time, but we were very lucky to get seats. You can not prebook seats on most marshrutkas, but you can for these, and it is wise to do so. They only leave twice a day, at 9 am and 4 pm, from both Goris and Yerevan. There is an office in downtown Goris and in Yerevan at the Intertown Bus Station.
You can find Goris in the lower right section of the map. It is an interactive map, so you can zoom in or click on a marker.
Old Khndzoresk
Only 16 km from Goris is another stone city, even more fascinating than the Stone Forest. Hidden away in the sharp cliffs, the cave city of Old Khndzoresk is a spectacular sight. Being located above a precipitous canyon, it won’t surprise you that Khndzoresk translates in English to steep gorge.
A long, swinging bridge takes you across Khndzoresk Gorge to reach the old cave city on the other side. As we walked across, we stared in awe at the fairytale scene above. Stone pinnacles of all shapes and sizes poke above the ground, for yet another otherworldly site.
You have to walk down 100 steps to reach the swinging bridge, but it is worth it to explore this fabulous city.
As if the site of a forest of fairy chimneys, pillars and towers wasn’t unique enough, cut into these peculiar features are hundreds of houses. They aren’t just simple caves either. Many are two-story, multi-room homes that have been hand-carved into the chimneys. Apparently, some were located so high on the pinnacle that the only access was by rappelling from the top.
Remarkably, these weren’t lived in by the Flintstones. The rock-cut homes were inhabited from the Middle Ages until the 1950s, when the Soviets forced them to move to a newly built town. Khndzoresk is much larger than the Stone Forest in Goris. At its height, in the beginning of the 20th century, the city’s 1,800 caves were home to 8,300 people. It included seven schools, several wineries, stables and many shops. At the time, this collection of caves was the largest village in Eastern Armenia.
We spent over an hour wandering its many trails, exploring this large city. In addition to being quirky, we found it very photogenic.
We were able to walk close to many of the cave houses, where we could see not only the interesting hand-carved ones, but also their stone additions.
At the base of the stone city is a dense forest of wild plum, cherry, blackberry and walnut trees. Families would have also planted gardens in this area, making themselves self-sufficient. In the middle of the forest, you’ll find the 17th century St. Hripsime Church. Maybe it was the isolation or the uneven floor, but the interior of this church feels more sacred than many others we have seen.
We saw another church dedicated to the martyred Hripsime in Etchmiadzin.
The stone village played a role in Armenia’s fight against the Ottoman Empire. Armenian war hero Davit Bek stationed a military base in Khndzoresk and successfully kept the Ottomans out of the region. His successor, though, had different results. Rebellion leader Mkhitar Sparapet chose to hide out in Khndzoresk instead of his hometown. His presence only increased the Ottoman invasions. In a time of confusion during an attack, Khndzoresk locals killed him, even though he was on their side. His grave is in the cemetery across the river.
Entry is Free; Opening Hours – 9am-9pm, closed Sunday.
Getting to Khndzoresk
It would be very difficult to reach Khndzoresk by public transit, but there are many taxis and Bolt drivers in Goris. You could drive yourself if you have a car, but be aware that the road from the highway is in rough condition. This 3 km section took 15 minutes to drive because there are more potholes than road. We had our taxi driver wait for us and return us to Goris for 7000AMD (€15.70), which we think was fair. There are, however, quite a few taxis waiting at the entrance, and if not, their contact information is posted, so you don’t need to have your taxi wait.
To read about other cave towns, check out our posts from Vardzia, Georgia; Uplistsikhe, Georgia; Cappadocia, Turkey; Ajanta and Ellora, India; Setenil de las Bodgeas, Spain; Staying in a Cave House, Spain and Goris, Armenia (Coming Soon).
Click on the link to read our Travel Tips For Armenia.
To read more of our adventures in Armenia, click here.
Coming Next – Tatev Monastery – An Armenian Treasure
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To read about more of our adventures go to Destinations.
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