Masada - ancient fortress, which is located near the Israeli town of Arad, on the southern coast of the Dead Sea. At the top of one of the cliffs of the Judean Desert, rising 450 meters above the Dead Sea, in 25 BC. e. King Herod I the Great built a shelter for themselves and their families, significantly strengthening and finish existed in this place a fortress Hasmonean period.

On all sides surrounded by cliffs of Masada. Just upstairs from the sea is narrow, so-called "snake path". On this trail you can still climb to the fortress. However, now there is another way for tourists - lift.

The top of the cliff is crowned almost flat trapezoidal plateau, which is about the size of 600 by 300 meters. The plateau is surrounded by thick walls with a total length of 1400 meters and a thickness of about 4 meters, which houses 37 towers. There have been built and preserved to this day, albeit in ruins - the palaces, synagogue, armories, the pit for the collection and storage of rain water and other ancillary buildings. The fortress was also used to store the king's gold.