Me in the doorway to one of the ruins in Aztec Ruins National Monument. A Dianne Lima photo
The Aztec Ruins National Monument has always held a favorite spot in my travel consciousness because it was the first Indian ruins that I had visited. Thus, when it became apparent that we were heading in this direction, I wanted to make a point of seeing them again. I have to say that my second visit was as interesting as my first.
The Aztec ruins were built by a group of Ancestral Pueblo Indians around 1111. They built a rather complex set of structures that held 400 rooms and stood three stories high. The Indians lived in the buildings until about 1150, when they were abandoned. They were later reused by another group of Ancestral Pueblo Indians who were also responsible for building the Mesa Verde structures. Like any new homeowners, this group remodeled and enhanced many of the structures. They were abandoned by this group around 1300. It wasn’t until the early 1800s that the structures were noted again. Serious archeological exploration of the site didn’t take place until the 1930s.
As I mentioned earlier, I’ve always considered the Aztec ruins special because they were the first Indian ruins that I visited. I was looking forward to seeing what changes had been made to the site. Fortunately, nothing much had changed. The movie in the Visitor’s Center was different. It also looked like some of the other parts of the Visitor’s Center had received a fresh coat of paint. Otherwise, the ruins were just as I remembered them.
I especially love walking into the Great Kiva. This building was restored in the 1930s to a condition that archeologists felt it would have looked like during the village’s heyday. Some archeologists think that the restoration is historically inaccurate. Personally, I don’t care about historical accuracy. The completed structure gives me a much better picture of the building’s appearance and atmosphere. I don’t think visiting the ruins would be as interesting without this magnificent reconstruction.
While the Great Kiva is definitely the high point of the complex, it is also fascinating to wander through the ruins to see the different rooms and the different building techniques. Best of all, a visitor can do this exploring almost by themselves. Because of its distance from the key sites like Chaco Canyon and Mesa Verde, the Aztec ruins are virtually tourist free. As an example, there were only about 6 other people there the day we visited. While the weather (which was blustery and cold) and the late hour might have had something to do with the lack of visitors, I seem to remember running across a similar number of people when I visited in 1996. It does seem a shame that more people don’t visit the site. But, the absence of others just helps enhance the atmosphere.
The Aztec Ruins National Monument is open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The cost to enter is $4/person. Paying the entrance fee allows entrance to the site for a week.
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