Montezuma Castle National Monument (redirected from Montezuma Well)

Montezuma Castle National Monument, 858 acres (347 hectares), central Ariz.; est. 1906. Montezuma Castle, built c.1250, is a 5-story, 20-room dwelling perched high in the cavity of a cliff. It was named by early settlers who believed it had been built by the Aztecs. See National Parks and Monuments (table). In the region are other well-preserved cliff dwellings of prehistoric Native American groups (see cliff dwellers).

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Montezuma Castle National Monument

National monument, central Arizona, U.S. Situated in the Verde River valley, it occupies an area of 2.6 sq mi (6.7 sq km). Declared a national monument in 1906, it is the site of the country's best-preserved pre-Columbian Pueblo Indian cliff dwellings. The “castle” is a five-story, 20-room adobe brick structure, dating from c. AD 1100, built into the cliff face about 80 ft (24 m) above the valley floor. To the northeast is Montezuma Well, a large sinkhole rimmed with communal dwellings.

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Montezuma Castle National Monument

Parks Directory of the United States / US National Parks / National Monuments

Address: 527 South Main St
Camp Verde, AZ 86322
Phone: 928-567-5276;
Fax: 928-567-3597;
Web: www.nps.gov/moca/
Size: 858 acres.
Established: Proclaimed on December 8, 1906.
Location: 50 miles south of Flagstaff, Arizona, off I-17.
Facilities: Picnic area, rest rooms (é), visitor center (é), museum/exhibit, self-guided tour/trail. Entrance fee required.
Activities: Hiking, diorama/audio program, ranger-led programs.
Special Features: Built in the 12th and 13th centuries by Sinagua farmers, this five-story, 20-room cliff dwelling is one of the best preserved in North America and is a classic example of the last phase of southern Sinagua occupation of the Verde Valley. Early settlers to the area assumed that the imposing structure was associated with the Aztec emperor Montezuma, but the structure was abandoned almost a century before Montezuma was born.

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See other parks in Arizona.