The ancient 'impregnable' fortress was built near the Dead Sea

Masada Castle is located in the southwest of the Dead Sea (Israel) built by Herod the Great in 40 BC - once considered as an impregnable fortress.

In the journey to discover Israel, tourists can hardly ignore - one of the World Heritage sites recognized by UNSECO in 2001.

If going along the highway from south to north, Masada fortress is on the right. The road leads up to the long, winding fortress and thousands of sand and stones. At the end of the road, a towering mountain appeared, if not previously introduced, few people could imagine on a 400-meter-high mountain peak there was a thousand-meter-wide fortress.

Madasa fortress is built on a vertical cliff base.From the fortress, the eye can reach the Dead Sea.(Photo: Lam Lam).

Amazing works in the desert

Built by Herdo the Great from 40-30 BC, when newly built, the Masada fortress was inviolable.

He studied carefully before choosing this terrain to build the fort. In the east, the fort near the Dead Sea has a height of 400m above the sea level, and the west cost more than 100m.

Masada fortress is located on the land with vertical cliffs, only 3 trails to go up. Today, if you travel by path, you have to travel for 3 hours under the burning sun to reach the fortress. If traveling by cable car, the time to withdraw is 10 minutes.

If standing on the fortress, visitors can see the whole scene with a pretty view, spreading tens of kilometers.

According to UNESCO documents, in fact, the castle was built from a mountain, not a fortress built on a mountain.

Masada fortress has a strong wall system with nearly 40 watch towers. Inside the walls are many buildings such as warehouses, stables, houses and castles. In particular, the North Palace has many steps built by cutting into the cliff.

Archaeological excavations show that various buildings in the fortress are connected by 120 sinking stairs. The entire structure is then decorated with a lot of mosaic and wall paintings, architectural and mosaic parts are plastered, painted or gilded.

A giant water well contains tens of thousands of cubic meters of rainwater in the Madasa fortress.(Photo: Lam Lam).

Vuɑ Herod The Great calculated very carefully the case of the castle under siege, so it built many food stores and 12 water tanks that could hold tens of thousands of cubic meters of rainwater. Archaeologists believe that with the huge stock of water and food, Masada fortress can resist the siege for nearly two years.

Historical siege battle

After King Herod died (4 BC), the fortress was besieged for the first time in the Jewish uprising against occupied Roman troops around 70 CE.

Considering the time between 70 and 73, when the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed, under the command of Flavius ​​Silvɑ, 973 people of the Zelot movement used Masada Radio as their base and resisted the forces. powerful of 15,000 Roman soldiers.

The far side is the monument - where the camp of the Roma army was set up when the fortress was occupied.(Photo: Lam Lam).

Nearly 1000 people fought very hard against the army of up to 15,000 soldiers but in the end still could not use thin forces to win the enemy.

This battle (taking place on the top of the mountain) has tremendous historical and symbolic significance because it is the last protest of the Jewish rebels against the persecution under the Roman Empire.

The people who dream of freedom eventually encounter a sad ending that is suicidal to not return to slavery. Since then, Jews scattered throughout Europe, persecuted persecution for 2,000 years and eventually had to overcome the horrific genocide of Nazi Germany in World War II to survive and establish Israel today. .

After that defeat, the fortress of Mɑsada was abandoned until 1838 when it was discovered by historians. Excavations and researches of owners will take place in the 1950s and 1960s.

Not only is a place of many cultural and historical significance, but Masada is also an indispensable destination for international visitors in the tour to visit the Dead Sea, Negev Desert and oasis of En Gedi. (Israel).