A fortress built by the Romans in the first century BCE on a mountain in the Judean Desert overlooking the Dead Sea. Masada is a popular destination in southern Israel often frequented by Jewish tourists for its historical and symbolic meanings. From 70-73 CE, it served as a fortress for approximately one thousand Jewish zealots who rebelled against the Romans' destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. When it appeared the Romans were close to conquering Masada, these Jews committed mass suicide upon the mountaintop. It has since become a symbol among the Zionist movement inspired by Yitzhak Lamdan's poem, Masada. See Azaryahu, Moaz and Aharon Kellerman. "Symbolic Places of National History and Revival: A Study in Zionist Mythical Geography." Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, Vol. 24, No. 1 (1999), pp. 109-123.  http://www.justvision.org/glossary/masada