Kandovan is an old village in the province of East Azerbaijan. It lies in the foothills of Mount Sahand, near the city of Osku. The village is an example of man-made cliff dwellings that are still inhabited. The cave dwellings, excavated in volcanic rocks and tuff similar to dwellings in the Turkish region of Cappadocia, are locally called Karaan. Karaan was carved in the lahars of Mount Sahand. The conical shape of the houses is the result of lahar flow consisting of porous, round and angular pumice together with other volcanic particles that were placed in a grey, acid matrix. After the eruption of Sahand, these materials were naturally displaced and formed Kandovan's rocks. Around the village the thickness of this formation is more than 100 metres and over time the cone-shaped cliffs were formed as a result of water erosion.
I am Maarten Verhees. The focus of my photographs is on the variation of architecture, animals and people. I try to capture the essence of local places in photographs... Read more…