Montezuma Castle National Monument
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Montezuma Castle National Monument | |
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| IUCN Category V (Protected Landscape/Seascape) | |
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| Location: | Yavapai County, Arizona, USA |
| Nearest city: | Flagstaff, Arizona |
| Coordinates: | |
| Area: | 1,658 acres (6.70 km²) |
| Established: | December 8, 1906 |
| Total Visitation: | 622,320 (in 2005) |
| Governing body: | National Park Service |
Montezuma Castle National Monument, located near Camp Verde, Arizona in the western United States, features well-preserved cliff dwellings. They were built and used by the Sinagua Indians around 1400 AD. When European Americans discovered them in the 1850s, they reported native traditions that they had been built by a divine hero named Montezuma — whose name may have been connected with the well-known historical Aztec emperor of Mexico, Moctezuma II, and accounts in Spanish as early as 1694 reference them as the "Casas de Montezuma". Some of these accounts have led to a mistaken belief that the Spanish or Americans themselves had named them after the emperor.
The five-story stone and mortar dwellings contain 20 rooms and once housed about 50 people. A natural overhang shades the rooms and shelters them from rain. Another part of the cliff wall bears the marks of an even larger dwelling, which has not survived.
The dwellings and the surrounding area were declared a U.S. National Monument on December 8, 1906. The National Monument was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966.
This is an easy monument to visit, a short distance off Interstate 17, exit 287. There is a paved trail of 1/4 mile from the visitor center along the base of the cliff containing the ruins. Access to the ruins themselves is not allowed.
Montezuma Well is a separate part of the monument, located 11 miles northeast, near Rimrock, Arizona. The Well is a natural limestone sinkhole through which some 1,400,000 gallons of water flow each day. The water is highly carbonated and contains high levels of arsenic. Montezuma Well's outflow has been used for irrigation since the 8th century. Part of a prehistoric canal is preserved at the picnic ground, and portions of the original Hohokam canal are still in use today.
Several Hopi clans trace their roots to immigrants from the Montezuma Castle/Beaver Creek area. Clan members periodically return to their former homes for religious ceremonies.
[edit] External links
- Official NPS website: Montezuma Castle National Monument
- Montezuma Castle National Monument Centennial: 1906-2006
