Khndzoresk ( hy, Խնձորեսկ, ) is a village in the

Goris Municipality Goris Municipality, referred to as Goris Community ( hy, Գորիս Համայնք ''Goris Hamaynk''), is an urban community and administrative subdivision of Syunik Province of Armenia, at the south of the country. Consisted of a group of settlem ...

of the

Syunik Province Syunik ( hy, Սյունիք, ) is the southernmost province of Armenia. It is bordered by the Vayots Dzor Province to the north, Azerbaijan's Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic exclave to the west, Azerbaijan to the east, and Iran to the south. It ...

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''O ...

. The village is located to the east of the

Goris Goris ( hy, Գորիս) is a town and the centre of the urban community of Goris, in Syunik Province at the south of Armenia. Located in the valley of the Goris (or Vararak) River, it is 254 km from the Armenian capital Yerevan and 67 ...

- Stepanakert highway, on the steep slopes of Khor Dzor (Deep Gorge), which the village is named after, according to tradition. Crossing the bridge at the entrance of the village, the road continues towards the towns of Lachin and Stepanakert. New Khndzoresk (the current inhabited area) was built in the 1950s. The village is located at above sea level and occupies .

Demographics

According to the

1897 census The first general census of the population of the Russian Empire in 1897 ( pre-reform Russian: ) was the first and only nation-wide census performed in the Russian Empire (the Grand Duchy of Finland was excluded). It recorded demographic data as ...

, Khndzoresk—mentioned as ''Khinzirak'' ()—had a population of 4,516, all Armenian Apostolics. The village had 2,295 men and 2,221 women. The

National Statistical Service of the Republic of Armenia The Statistical Committee of Armenia ( Armenian: Հայաստանի վիճակագրական կոմիտե) is the national statistical agency of Armenia. History The statistical institution started its main activities on 7 January 1922 and was ...

(ARMSTAT) reported its population as 2,260 in 2010, up from 1,992 at the 2001 census. In 2009, the population of Khndzoresk comprised 2256 people, of which 1126 were women and 1130 were men. There were 516 households in total.

History

2014 Prowincja Sjunik, Chyndzoresk (010)

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 , native_name_lang = hy , icon = Armenian Apostolic Church logo.svg , icon_width = 100px , icon_alt = , image = Էջմիածնի_Մայր_Տաճար.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , a ...

) Abraham Kretatsi who gave a thorough description of the community in his chronicles. During the 1980s, an additional village sprouted from Khndzoresk due to resizing and political unrest. This village, considerably smaller than Khndzoresk, is called Lower Khndzoresk, or

Nerkin Khndzoresk Nerkin Khndzoresk ( hy, Ներքին Խնձորեսկ) is a village in the Goris Municipality of the Syunik Province in southeastern Armenia. Nerkin Khndzoresk is located close to the border, and is located 21 km from Goris of the Stepanakert high ...

Cultural heritage

Khndzoresk is widely famous for its canyon with picturesque rock formations and ancient cave settlement. 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.

Economy and culture

About 90% of the population is involved in agriculture (animal husbandry and gardening). There is a small milk processing enterprise, employing 8 people. The community has a number of administrative and public institutions, such as a community council, a secondary school (with 370 pupils), a musical school, a kindergarten, a library, a museum and a culture club.

Climate

The climate in the community is warm, relatively humid, with mild winters. Annual precipitation is 450-700mm.

Genetics

Surprisingly, most of the villagers have been found to belong to Y-DNA Haplogroup R1b, specifically to a Western European branch of L754 > L389 > P297 > M269 > L23 > L51 > L52 > L151 > P312 > DF27 > Y3267 > Y7365 > Y28672 > Y7363 > Y41095 > Y41710 > Y42667. Closest Europeans from France. As of November 2021 the closest common ancestor of these French and Khndzoresk people lived about 1150 years ago. Origins are being explored in a Y-DNA project with the company FamilyTreeDNA.

References

{{portal bar, Geography Populated places in Syunik Province