Description of the attraction
Masada is an ancient fortress located near the Israeli city of Arad, off the southern coast of the Dead Sea. At the top of one of the rocks of the Judean Desert, rising 450 meters above the Dead Sea, in 25 BC. NS. King Herod I the Great built a refuge for himself and his family, significantly strengthening and completing the Hasmonean fortress that existed on this site.
On all sides Masada is surrounded by sheer cliffs. Only from the side of the sea a narrow so-called "serpentine path" leads up. You can still climb the fortress along this path. However, now there is another way for tourists - the cable car.
The top of the rock is crowned by an almost flat trapezoidal plateau, which measures approximately 600 by 300 meters. The plateau is surrounded by powerful fortress walls with a total length of 1400 meters and a thickness of about 4 meters, in which 37 towers are arranged. Here were built and have survived to this day, albeit in ruins, - palaces, a synagogue, armories, pits for collecting and storing rainwater and other auxiliary buildings. The fortress was also used to store royal gold.
