MAR to APR daily 9-17.
MAY to SEP daily 9-18.
OCT to NOV daily 9-17.
DEC daily 10-16.
Closing time is last access, site is open for 90min more.
[2007]
Groups (10+): Adults USD 7.50, Children (7-11) USD 5.50.
Plus tax.
[2007]
Cave House
| Location: | Manitou Springs. 8km west of Colorado Springs, follow U.S. Highway 24 west, turn right on Cliff Dwellings Road. |
| Open: |
JAN to FEB daily 10-16. MAR to APR daily 9-17. MAY to SEP daily 9-18. OCT to NOV daily 9-17. DEC daily 10-16. Closing time is last access, site is open for 90min more. [2007] |
| Fee: |
Adults USD 8.50, Children (7-11) USD 6.50, Children (0-6) free, Seniors (60-99) USD 7.50, Seniors (100+) free, Disabled free. Groups (10+): Adults USD 7.50, Children (7-11) USD 5.50. Plus tax. [2007] |
| Classification: |
Cave House
|
| Light: | electric. |
| Dimension: | |
| Guided tours: | |
| Bibliography: | |
| Address: |
Manitou Cliff Dwellings Museum, P.O. Box 272, Manitou Springs, Colorado 80829, Tel: +1-719-685-5242, Free: +1-800-354-9971.
E-mail: |
| Last update: | $Date: 2008/07/01 20:31:52 $ |
| 1906 | opened to the public. |
The Manitou Cliff Dwellings are Anasazi cliff dwellings, located under a huge overhanging cliff face of red sandstone. Cliff dwellings are artificial structures, we classified them on showcaves.com as subterranea. As a matter of fact the cave or shelter is not artificial, its a natural cliff face, which was used to construct the houses. But the houses are artificial, in this case in two different ways. The houses built by the Anasazi 700 years ago were artificial, but they have a archaeological authenticy.
This ruins are 20th century reconstructions, which means they were not created by the Anasasy, but by moder entrepreneurs, the predecessor of Walt Disney and his Disney World theme parks. And being artificail or reconstructed, it seems those cliff dwellings polarize the visitors into two groups. The first just believes, that they are not faked, the others are convinced they are a scam. Truth is somewhere in between. The current management calls the dwellings "an archaeological and natural history preserve", and "authentic Anasazi cliff dwellings, built more than 700 years ago". If asked about the origin before 1906, when the site was opened to the public, the things start to blur. There is the story about being rescued by a Colorado College Archaeological Class from a site that was about to be flooded. Then there is the story they were copied after the Mesa Verde, when the original dwellings became a National Park. And the third theory tells about cliff dwellings, built on private land, which were acquired and relocated. The third one is obviously the most unethical explanation, as it would imply destruction of archaeological remains for money.
We do not know if the site is real or faked, but we guess its a complete fake. Nevertheless it is a fine place to see the architecture of the Anasazi in a rather comfortable way. The site with its cliff is imressive, and there is a nice museum in the pueblo in front of the cliff. So we recommend to be aware that it is faked and enjoy it anyway.
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