Ancient Architecture
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Cliff Palace at Mesa Verde
Mesa Verde lights up a display once a year and we were lucky enough to have Cliff Palace lit this year. We arrived a little after 2:00PM to get a good setup spot and since we were the 1st ones arriving it was prime. By twilight time there must have been well over 100 photographers and tripods. This shot is composed of 4 vertical shots stitched together in a panorama method.
Walking along a snow covered path in Mesa Verde. The canyon below is fogged in. Hints of Autumn bring color to the landscape.
MESA VERDE NATIONAL PARK COLORADO
Spruce Tree House has been closed to visitors since 2015. A continuous crack in the natural sandstone arch above the structure has become unstable with numerous rock falls. The pueblo was built around 1250AD and contains about 130 rooms and 8 kivas. The site is well protected in the alcove from the elements and has over 90% of its original material.
Built between 1190 and 1260, this Ancestral Puebloan Cliff Dwelling is known as Cliff Palace, and is the largest cliff dwelling at Mesa Verde National Park, as well as the largest cliff dwelling in North America. The building contains 150 rooms and 23 kivas, and was home to approximately 100 people. Believed to have been a major Ancestral Puebloan ceremonial, social, and administrative center within Mesa Verde, Cliff Palace fell into disrepair following the migration of its residents, with the process of deterioration accelerating after its discovery by European-Americans in 1888, which was partially the impetus for the area’s designation as a National Park. Following the creation of the park, the ruins were stabilized and reconstituted, with fallen stone being placed back onto the ruins, including on the buildings and terraces. Archaeological, reconstitution, and stabilization work on the Cliff Palace was undertaken between 1906 and 1922, with portions of the structure being rebuilt in a manner that was inferred from other structures in the park, or conjecture. The kivas and terraces were unearthed and stabilized, and the ruins were eventually opened to visitors, allowing the cliff dwelling to be directly experienced. The structure and the park were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1966, and were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978. Today, Cliff Palace is open for guided tours, which allow visitors to traverse the main terrace with a ranger.
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Built in 1923, this Pueblo Revival-style building was designed under the purview of superintendent Jesse L. Nusbaum, and built to serve as the Headquarters for Mesa Verde National Park. The building is clad in rough-hewn stone with casement windows, porches with wooden and stone columns, vigas, and parapets. The building is a contributing structure in the Mesa Verde Administrative District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1987.
Built between circa 1200 and 1280, this Ancestral Puebloan Cliff Dwelling is known as Spruce Tree House. The building is the third-largest cliff dwelling at Mesa Verde, containing 130 rooms and 8 kivas, built into a natural alcove in the cliff face. The dwelling occupies a space approximately 216 feet (66 meters) wide and 89 feet (27 meters) deep, and is thought to have housed between 60 and 80 people. When discovered in 1888, it was named for the large spruce tree that existed in front of it, which was cut down by a subsequent explorer. The structure was stabilized and reconstituted circa 1908, as part of the restoration of the larger cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde, as well as being investigated archaeologically at this time. The ruin, due to its protected location underneath a ledge, is one of the best-preserved cliff dwellings in the park. The structure and the park were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1966, and were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978. Today, Spruce Tree House is closed to visitors, and has been since 2015, with studies to stabilize loose rocks above the building underway.