Photo Journey Through Arizona Ep.1: Montezuma Castle (Part 1)

Yesterday I decided to go for a hike to clear my mind and to see some more of my new home state, Arizona. I recently moved (back) to the Phoenix area and there are so many places that I want to photograph across the state. Luckily everything is within a day's drive and back so I decided I would journey to Sedona, AZ...

Of course, on the way there are plenty of cool things and places to see! I decided to stop in Camp Verde for lunch at Sonic and realized that there was an ancient native American site right nearby. Known as "Montezuma Castle National Monument"- I have driven past many, many times but never explored it. I headed over, paid the $10 entry fee and whipped out my camera.

This sign describes the three interwoven sites- Tuzigoot, Montezuma Castle and Montezuma Well. They were all part of a complex network of over 40 pre-historic sites stretching across the middle region of the state.

This ancient site was at one time occupied by the Sinagua people, however this group may have actually consisted of several hybrid tribes or peoples. Multiple modern day Hopi tribes trace back their oral history to this site for example.

The original name of the tribe/s is actually unknown.

Hohokam people settled in the valley over 1000 years ago and formed a series of trade and travel routes. These fertile lands eventually were settled by a few distinct groups that left abruptly 600 years ago without much of a trace.

Something caused these settlements to be abandoned sometime around 1400 AD... climate change, disease, famine and overpopulation may have plagued this primitive civilization before their eventual diaspora.

As I leave the small museum at the opening of the park I look up at the white faced cliffs. Not sure exactly what I'm looking for...

As I continue walking I begin to see something up along the ridge. The remnants of the ancient site begin to emerge.

A few stories above the ground lies the "Castle", which consists of several layered rooms constructed in Pueblo style. A series of ladders were used to gain access to the site from below.

Arizona sycamore trees were used for support beams and are still supporting the structures to this day, over 700 years later.

The giant trees can grow over 100 feet tall and provide excellent shade from the scorching desert heat.

The building itself is actually multiple rooms and floors all constructed on top of one another. Over the centuries many of the outer rooms were destroyed, possibly by fire.

Front view of the Montezuma Castle- you can see the various levels of construction that were slowly added on over the centuries. Much of the original structure is missing or destroyed.

In the 1950's access to the site for tourists was cut off and ladders were removed. They created this miniature model to showcase the rooms in the castle and to give some idea of what it looks like behind the walls.

There seems to be a limit to the number or size of images that I can upload at once so I will make a part 2 post tomorrow :)