Best Cholula, Mexico Digital Travel Pictures
And Photos

George And Audrey DeLange

Cholula: The Pyramid of Tipanipa, "The Worlds Largest Pyramid!" For years the "Pyramid of Tipanipa" at Cholula was said to be the worlds largest pyramid. Not even the Great Pyramid of Egypt, had a larger base! Now, there is another located in the ancient ruins of El Mirador in Guatemala. El Mirador covers 10 square mile and its largest pyramid is called The Danta Pyramid. Rising 230 feet, The Danta Pyramid is said to be the tallest structure the Maya ever built. Even so, that still does not take away from the fact that Cholula is pretty big! After all it covers 25 acres and it is 181 feet high. That still makes it the largest base for any pyramid structure. Cholula was the most important center of the Mexican highlands after the fall of Teotihuacan. It is located near the twin volcanic peaks Iztaccihuatl and Popocatepetl and the city of Puebla. The Great Pyramid Of Tipanipa, dedicated to Quetzalcoatl, is the largest single structure in Mexico. Towering 181 feet high and covering an area of some 25 acres, the pyramid was begun in Pre-Classic times and enlarged at least four times. Seen from a distance today, it appears as a large hill with a Colonial church resting at its summit. The interior of the pyramid has been extensively excavated, affording visitors an extraordinary opportunity to view the different phases of its construction. Tipanipa really does looks like a big hill, with a Spanish Colonial church on top. It is difficult from a distance to imagine anything else. In 1910, it was uncovered during the construction of an insane asylum. Archaeologists say it was in use at the same time as the great Pyramids of the Sun and the Moon at Teotihuacan. If so, it would have been in use a thousand years before the time of these events, and could have been covered and forgotten. A common story that is told today is that when the conquistadors were invading the land, the great pyramid was so sacred that when the people realized the conquistadors were coming, they organized a work force to cover it with soil so that the Spaniards wouldn't destroy it We doubt if that story is true, but it would be interesting to learn how and why the Pyramid Of Tipanipa at Cholula was covered with a dirt hill.