Montezuma Castle was built in a limestone cliff alcove near Beaver Creek in the Verde Valley in what is now central Arizona. Cliff houses are not uncommon and usually consist of one room. They are made of masonry walls and timber that enclose natural recesses in the cliff wall, turning these niches into rooms. Access is possible by a series of ladders and narrow ledges.
But Montezuma Castle is in a class of its own. It is 90 feet (27 meters) from the ground, five floors high, consist… (View original article)