Kandovan is a village in Sahand rural district, in the central district of Osku in East Azerbaijan Province. This village is considered as a tourist attraction due to its special houses carved in the heart of mountains in the shape of beehive. The aboriginal architecture of Kandovan is rocky architecture and the village due to its architectural characteristics and specific texture has been registered in the list of National Monuments. Kandovan is one of three rock villages in the world and this granted unique attractions to this village. Kandovan rural architecture and the life of its people are regarded as an exception in the world. Because in Cappadocia of Turkey and the Dakotas of America (both have rocky architecture) no one lives. In fact, what granted an archaeological identity to this village, is the existence of 117 families and homes in conical and pyramidal rocks. Rocky architecture is indicative of the struggle between man and nature and taking the nature into service. In typical architecture, constructional materials together with lime and clay create the building, while in the rocky architecture the space is supplied within the rock mass. Traditional and archeological houses of Kandovan are unique in Iran and a number of researchers believe these houses date back to the 7th century AH coinciding with the Mongol invasion. Regarding the  history of this region , it has been reported that the first people who entered Kandovan , were the residents of  Hilehvar village located 2 km in west of Kandovan , who immigrated to this region to escape the Mongol invasion and over time gradually dug houses in the rocks and made a safe haven for themselves. Among these hills, the height of some reaches to 40 m, there are hundreds of pens, warehouses and rooms which are very interesting. There is also a mineral water spring boiling from one of the hills and has a great reputation. It is also diagnosed to be very useful for kidney diseases. The linkage of the upper floors with outside is provided with beautiful stairs carved from the same rocks. The ground floor is usually stable and the second, third and fourth floors are used for the residence. In some cases, the fourth floor is also used as a warehouse. Mineral water, unique homes, green valleys, pleasant weather and mountain dairy and honey, attract a large number of tourists from far and near to this village, especially in the favorable seasons of the year.

How to Access:

For getting to Kandovan, it is enough to move from Tabiz to Osku and then continue to south of Osku, pass the city of Isfanjan and the village of Kohanmu and then you will reach Kandovan Village. The distance of Tabriz to Osku is about 30 km and from Osku to Kandovan, it is about 18 km.