Great Pyramid of Cholula, Pre-Columbian pyramid in Cholula, Mexico
The Great Pyramid of Cholula is a pre-Columbian structure in Cholula that ranks as the largest pyramid by volume worldwide. A colonial church called Santuario de Nuestra Señora de los Remedios now sits on top, overlaying the original construction.
Builders started work around 300 BCE and continued over a millennium, laying new layers on top of older phases. Spanish conquerors mistook the structure for a natural hill and built a church on it in the 16th century.
The church built on top after the Spanish conquest marks the shift in religious practices at this location. Today pilgrims visit during local festivals, blending Catholic traditions with memory of the pre-Hispanic past.
Visitors can walk through tunnels leading into the interior and showing earlier building phases. A path leads to the church on top and offers views over the surrounding valley and nearby Popocatépetl volcano.
The site consists of seven pyramids built one on top of another, wrapping around each other in succession. This building method gives the place the largest pyramid volume in the world, though the height is lower than other well-known structures.
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