Kandovan ( fa, كندوان, also

romanize Romanization or romanisation, in linguistics, is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, a ...

d as Kandovān and Kandavān; also known as Kanvān) is an ancient village in Sahand Rural District in the Central District of

Osku County Osku County ( fa, شهرستان اسکو) is located in East Azerbaijan province, East Azerbaijan province, Iran. The capital of the county is Osku. At the 2006 census, the county's population was 84,061, in 23,613 households. Retrieved 3 Novemb ...

East Azerbaijan Province East Azerbaijan Province ( fa, استان آذربایجان شرقی ''Āzarbāijān-e Sharqi''; az-Arab, شرقی آذربایجان اوستانی) is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. It is located in Iranian Azerbaijan, bordering Armeni ...

, northwestern

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. It is situated in the foothills of

Mount Sahand Sahand ( fa, سهند), is a massive, heavily eroded stratovolcano in East Azerbaijan Province, northwestern Iran. At , it is the highest mountain in the province of East Azarbaijan. Sahand is one of the highest mountains in Iranian Azerbaijan ...

, near the city of Osku. At the 2006 census, the village population was 601, in 168 families. The village exemplifies manmade cliff dwellings which are still inhabited. The troglodyte homes, excavated inside volcanic rocks similar to dwellings in the Turkish region of

Cappadocia Cappadocia or Capadocia (; tr, Kapadokya), is a historical region in Central Anatolia, Turkey. It largely is in the provinces Nevşehir, Kayseri, Aksaray, Kırşehir, Sivas and Niğde. According to Herodotus, in the time of the Ionian Revo ...

, are locally called ''Karaan''.Hashemi, S., 2013. ''The Magnificence of Civilization in Depths of Ground (A Review of Underground Structures in Iran – Past to Present)'', Shadrang Printing and Publishing Co., Tehran. Karaans were cut into non-welded

ignimbrite Ignimbrite is a type of volcanic rock, consisting of hardened tuff. Ignimbrites form from the deposits of pyroclastic flows, which are a hot suspension of particles and gases flowing rapidly from a volcano, driven by being denser than the surro ...

s, also called "ash-flow

tuff Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is lithified into a solid rock. Rock that contains greater than 75% ash is considered tuff, while rock ...

s," of

. The cone form of the houses is the result of the erosion of ignimbrite layers consisting of porous, round and angular

pumice Pumice (), called pumicite in its powdered or dust form, is a volcanic rock that consists of highly vesicular rough-textured volcanic glass, which may or may not contain crystals. It is typically light-colored. Scoria is another vesicular v ...

together with other volcanic particles that were positioned in a grey, acidic matrix. During the eruption of Sahand,

pyroclastic flow A pyroclastic flow (also known as a pyroclastic density current or a pyroclastic cloud) is a fast-moving current of hot gas and volcanic matter (collectively known as tephra) that flows along the ground away from a volcano at average speeds of b ...

s formed the rocks of Kandovan. Around the village the thickness of this formation exceeds and with time, due to water erosion, the cone-shaped cliffs were formed.Kaljahi, E.A., Birami, F.A. and Hajialilue, M., 2015. ''Influence of Geological Structures and Weathering in Formation and Destruction of Cone-Shaped Rocky Houses of the Kandovan Village, Iran.'' In ''Engineering Geology for Society and Territory-Volume 8'' (pp. 231-234). Springer, Cham.

Origin and stages of development

Mount Sahand is one of the most important mountains, the Silent volcano in Iran for one hundred and forty thousand years ago, After the retreat of Kandovan Lake basin, The stone of Kandovan has appeared. There are several narrations about the causes of the emergence of the village: *The original inhabitants were nomads who had previously been Condon this place was used as a summer house and houses dug inside the rocks, as a house they used it temporarily to reduce the hassle of moving later have settled there. *Primary residents of Kandovan village, residents of the ruined and ancient village was "Hilevar". Those times Mongol attack from this village, which is about two kilometers It is far from Kandovan, they had moved and lived in Kandovan . *In ancient times, some of the warriors from this place passed, due to the better military position of the place, Especially its topographic position that penetrates from above makes the domain impossible, use it as its own refuge they chose and started digging houses inside the rocks.Yusef Gorji Mehlabani and Elmira Saanayi, Rural Architecture, Architecture in harmony with the cimate of Kandovan, 2009 , Housing and Rural environment

Gallery

File:Kandovan1.JPG, Far view of a hotel on the left and the rock houses on the right File:Kandovan2.JPG, Closer view of the village File:Kandovan3.JPG, In the village File:Kandovan4.JPG, In the village File:Traditional home Kandovan.JPG, Interior of a traditional home File:Kandovan5.JPG, View of the village and surroundings from the rock houses File:Kandovan 1.jpg, File:Kandovan Iran.jpg, File:روستای کندوان . تبریز.jpg, File:(((روستای کندوان تبریز=Kandovan, Tabriz))) - panoramio (1).jpg, File:نماي كلي از روستاي كندوان.JPG, File:Khadije roostayeKandovan.jpg, Kandovan, Iran (1259160848)

References

External links

"Cones of Kandovan"
JadidOnline.com Populated places in Osku County Underground cities {{Osku-geo-stub