With no royal family, the USA isn't blessed with a wide range of historic palaces. But there is one in Colorado that belonged to the Ancestral Puebloans and is well worth a visit. Mesa Verde National Park's Cliff Palace may be in ruins now but it was an impressive sprawl of rooms during its heyday as an administrative capital from 1190 onwards. Today you can explore it on ranger-guided walks to see hand-painted murals and learn how the Ancestral Puebloans once lived.

Find out more about the secrets and mysteries of Mesa Verde

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