One of the best and can’t miss attractions for the every visitors Southwest experience are the many cliff dwellings located throughout the region.
Historically, the Southwest has some of the most amazing structures from ancient indigenous people. While there are certainly quite a few that have stood the test of time, the Montezuma Castle National Monument is quite the formidable place to visit as the structure is over 1000 years old.
The cliff dwelling has remain very well preserved has wind and erosion haven’t caused the structure to decay over time.
Interestingly, the Montezuma was mistaken early on as a structure built by Aztecs. However, as history has reveal, it was built by the Sinagua people who lived throughout parts of central Arizona.
The incredibly preserved structure is five stories tall and has nearly 20 rooms. Moreover, its roughly 90 feet from the bottom of the valley floor.
While the structure is very unique, visitors are only allowed to view the structure from below. Visitors haven’t been allowed into the structure for many years because of its incredible delicacy and as a preventive protection to preserve the structure.
While it would be incredible to see and explore the structure, its still worthy of adding to bucket lists as it one of the best preserved cliff dwelling structures in the Southwest.
