An ancient fortress that become one of Herod the Great’s refuge palaces. With a view of the dead sea only 12 miles away King Herod built his palace and fortifications between 37-31 BCE. Built with Roman style fresco’s, mosaic’s, and architecture, while the ravages of time and weather have destroyed a lot of the full building sites some of the lower walls and columns. While the fortifications and location is prime for defense the fortresses on Masada have been overran and more than once resulting in bloodshed within the walls. last occupied by the Byzantine Empire between 330-1453 AD as a monastery. After the Fall of Byzantine Masada was left on its own. 

I decided to write about Masada because what once would have been an incredible palace has fallen apart because of neglect. Dried up cisterns, and decrepit walls are almost all that’s left. its a reminder of the importance of preservation and protection of these historical sights. Seeing the above model of what this fortress used to be can be almost heart breaking after walking through mostly broken and crumbling or even nonexistent structures. The little bit of preserved architecture and craftsmanship can be almost breathtaking.