Montezuma Castle (Yavapai County, Arizona)

While in the Phoenix area for the weekend, I had to take a little extra time to check out at least a couple of the numerous National Monuments in the surrounding area. First stop - Montezuma Castle and its nearby, but disconnected portion the Montezuma Well. We stopped at the castle first. 

Having visited Mesa Verde in southwestern Colorado a few years ago, I'm somewhat familiar with the amazing architecture of the Ancient Puebloan peoples and their cliff dwellings in this part of the country. That, however, does not make their legacy any less impressive. 

To get to the actual castle, one must walk through the Park Service's visitor center and then follow a short paved trail that passes through a grove of large sycamore's before opening the view to Montezuma Castle above. Five stories in height, the structure is misnamed on both accounts. It is not a castle, but most likely a multi-family dwelling and it had nothing at all to do with Montezuma. In fact, believe it to be have been built between 1100 and 1425 AD (probably in stages), which would mean it predates it's namesake Aztec leader by a couple of hundred years, at least.

Approximately ten miles from the castle, we approach Montezuma Well, which is a natural limestone sink hole. The ancient cultures built dwellings into the surrounding cliffs here as well. The sinkhole itself is water-filled and surfaces some 1.5 million gallons of water each day.

The ancient peoples, resourceful as they were, utilized this water to irrigate many of their crops on the surrounding plain through a series of canals draining water from the sinkhole. Still, it is amazing to me that an entire culture could develop and flourish here for so many centuries in this sun-baked desert climate. It's a true testament to their ingenuity and tenacity.