Montezuma Castle National Monument is a 20-room pueblo built by Sinagua Indians in Arizona during the 1100s. It was mistakenly named after the Aztec emperor Moctezuma by European settlers. President Theodore Roosevelt established it as a national monument in 1906. The structure is made of limestone rocks and adobe plaster, and contains doors, benches, storage areas, and hearths. The cave dwellings were looted by visitors and have undergone several restorations by the National Park Service.
Montezuma Castle National Monument is a five-level, 20-room pueblo located in Arizona’s Verde Valley. The cave dwellings were built by indigenous Sinagua Indians during the 1100s. For unknown reasons, the castle was abandoned during the 1400s. In the 1860s, European settlers discovered the dwellings and mistakenly named the structure after the Aztec emperor Moctezuma, whom the settlers they thought he was responsible for the commission of the pueblo.
With the Antiquities Act of 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt established the historic home as one of America’s first national monuments. The National Park Service is responsible for the maintenance and preservation of the cave dwellings. In 1966, the pueblo was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The castle contains a natural overhang which offers shade and protection from precipitation. Inside, the rooms are built into limestone alcoves. The structure also includes doors, benches, storage areas and hearths. There is no evidence that other humans lived in the cave dwellings after they were abandoned by the Sinagua Indians during the 1400s. The structure’s only inhabitants are mammals and birds, including bats, rock squirrels, gray foxes, and cliff swallows.
The outer walls of Montezuma Castle National Monument are made of limestone rocks stacked on top of each other and adhered with clay. The exterior of the walls is faced with an adobe plaster. The ceilings are reinforced with sycamore beams. The sleepers are filled with straw made of small branches, grass and reeds. A layer of mud covers the thatch of the floors and ceilings.
The cave dwellings once housed Sinagua Indian artifacts, but were looted by visitors. Until 1951, tourists could wander through the ruins by climbing a set of stairs. However, visitors have attempted to enter the national monument unsupervised and without proper equipment, and the National Park Service has ended public tours.
Due to erosion and damage caused by visitors, Montezuma Castle National Monument has undergone several restorations by the National Park Service. The first major project was done in 1933 when the park service restored brick plaster that was marked with fingerprints. The restoration project also included repairing damage from a dynamite explosion caused by looters and improving access to the home by adding stairs and safety railings.
In the 1990s, the National Park Service commissioned another major renovation. The renovations included repairing the severe destruction of the original plasterwork caused by swarms of carpenter bees. A new layer of plaster was applied over portions of the original plaster. Due to the age of the structure, the National Park Service continually seeks damage to Montezuma Castle National Monument so it can be preserved for years to come.
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