USA ~ Cliff Palace- Mesa Verde National Park - UNESCO ~

... Nice view of "Cliff Palace", the largest and most impressive cliff dwelling in North America and best known of Mesa Verde National Park.. it has over 150 individual rooms and more than 20 kivas (rooms for religious rituals)... crafted of sandstone, wooden beams and mortar... and likely once painted with bright colors... Mesa Verde Cliff Palace has been remarkably well preserved from the elements for the past 700 years... the Pueblo people resided here until 1275 when they left the area and migrated south and west... this is the only national park in the United States created to protect cultural and historical sites rather than natural features... Thanks a lot Elena!✿◕ ‿ ◕✿ 

Photo: © Dennis Flaherty
Mesa Verde became a national park in 1906 and there are over 4000 archaeological sites and over 600 cliff dwellings of the Pueblo people at the site.

In addition to building their dwellings, the Pueblo people who lived at Mesa Verde made high-quality baskets and pottery. These items were likely passed down from mother to daughter.  The people of Mesa Verde were farmers who grew beans, corn and squash. They supplemented their diet by gathering other edible plants and hunting deer, squirrels, rabbits and other animals. The culture reached its epogee between the 11th and 13thC, before suddenly disappearing. The site was rediscovered in 1874.

 "Mesa Verde" is Spanish for "green table". The name comes from the juniper trees and other foliage in the area.

Mesa Verde was one of the first two US World Heritage Sites, and part of the first group of World Heritage Sites inscribed in 1978.

Stamps:

Love 

(Issued 14-01-2021)

Mystery Message - More than Meets the Eye

(Issued 14-06-2021)

Hope for the Crippled 

(Issued 20-11-1969)