Prescott, AZ – June 2005 – Montezuma’s Castle

The Montezuma Castle National Monument is a group of Puebloan cliff dwellings situation in the side of a hill near Camp Verde, Arizona. They were built by the Sinagua people, a pre Columbian culture.

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Believed to have been built between 1100 and 1425, the structure is five floors high, with over twenty rooms. Despite the name the complex was neither used by Montezuma nor is it a castle.

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The visitor center has a model of the dwelling.

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Locally several native groups including Hopi and Yavapai have ancestral homes in the area, and still use the area for religious ceremonies.

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Beaver Creek runs through the park.

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