Sun Temple

This is the last stop for Mesa Verde National Park.  We'll be leaving Colorado for New Mexico.

 Sun Temple is built on top of the cliff above all the other pueblos.  The picture above is Sun Temple from across the valley standing above Cliff Palace.  The cliff face below it over there and us over here is filled with all the cliff dwellings we've looked at so far.

This is a close up with the telephoto lens from across the valley.









This is what the walls look like in all the cliff dwellings.

They have little alcoves marked so you can see inside the pueblo without doing any damage to the ruins.

This was the water cistern (above).  Below shows one of the ways they conserve the ruins by sealing the tops of the walls.  This prevents the weather from wearing the bricks down any more than necessary.  Remember, we are at 8,000 feet elevation and there is a lot of snow on top of the mesa.

This is the valley from one end.  Inside those walls are dozens of ruins of cliff dwellings.

Next stop:  New Mexico.