And although the Egyptian pyramids at Giza are the most famous and talked about, they, as it turned out, are not the largest in the world. And that's a fact. In Mexico, these wonders of the world have a serious competitor - the Great Pyramid of Cholula.
Cholula pyramid hidden under a layer of clay
The ancient Aztec temple in Pueblo, whose base is four times and the volume is twice that of the pyramids at Giza, is so often forgotten because it is hidden under a layer of clay. All this makes the structure more like a natural mountain than an ancient place of worship. Obviously because of this, Hernán Cortez did not pay attention to him, starting to selflessly erect a church right on the ancient stones.
The Great Pyramid of Cholula, known to the locals for centuries as a man-made mountain, reaches 66 m in height and 450 m in width. And although archaeologists still cannot say who exactly built this complex, they still agree that they built it, most likely, after a global cataclysm that occurred in 5604 BC. e. and called the worldwide flood.
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Legends of the Great Pyramid
The history of this mysterious building is full of legends and conjectures. So, according to one version, trying to explain where a huge layer of clay appeared on the described pyramid, it was covered with Spanish invaders, who in 1519 plundered and burned the ancient city of Cholulu. They allegedly did this in order to be able to build on it the Catholic Church of the Blessed Virgin the Comforter. But this is not mentioned anywhere. Besides, why did the conquistadors need such heavy earthwork, if the church would have looked great anyway on the existing foundation?
According to another version, it is believed that for about 1000 years the ancient Aztecs used it as a place of worship. The walls of this monumental structure were decorated with black, red and yellow zigzag murals. But over time, the walls of the pyramid were hidden by someone under a layer of clay and began to overgrow with grass and shrubs.
“The pyramid was left somewhere in the 7th or 8th century AD,” explains archaeologist David Carballo. Perhaps the Aztecs themselves did this. But why?
Due to this, the building, completely buried under a 10-meter layer of clay, turned out to be untouched by the people of Cortez, who killed about 3000 people in the city and destroyed many priceless cultural monuments.
The pyramid was built by many generations of people
By the way, according to some researchers, the Great Pyramid was built over many generations. Archaeologists have found traces of several cultures here, each of which added or changed something in the appearance of the building. It was this growth over several centuries that allowed the Great Pyramid to become so huge.
In addition, scientists are inclined to believe that the pyramid was actually hidden under a layer of loess sediments due to mud rains that plentifully walked in this area after the mentioned global cataclysm. By the way, such sediments are abundant throughout Mexico, which only confirms this theory.
Great Pyramid of Cholula - the largest monument on Earth
Not only does the building hold the title of the world's largest pyramid, it is also the largest architectural monument ever built on Earth.
The pyramid could not be found until the beginning of the 20th century. Near the hill, local residents even began to build a psychiatric ward of the hospital, and only then the mysterious ancient walls appeared. In 1930, archaeologists began excavations in this area.
They made a series of tunnels with a total length of 8 km and rebuilt one side of the pyramid in order to be able to inspect the magnificent building of bygone civilizations.
Now this archaeological zone with an area of 154 hectares is perhaps one of the main tourist sites that Mexico has.