Great Pyramid of Cholula
From a distance the pyramid appears to be a natural hill topped by a church
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 Location within Mexico today
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| Location |
Cholula de Rivadabia, Puebla,  Mexico
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| Region | Puebla |
| Coordinates | 19°03′27″N 98°18′07″W / 19.05750°N 98.30194°W |
| History | |
| Periods | Classic to Postclassic |
| Site notes | |
| Architecture | |
| Architectural styles | Talud-tablero |
| Architectural details | Number of temples: 1 |
| Responsible body: Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia | |
Coordinates: 19°03′27″N 98°18′07″W / 19.05750°N 98.30194°W
The Great Pyramid of Cholula, also known as Tlachihualtepetl (Nahuatl for "artificial mountain"), is a huge complex located in Cholula, Puebla, Mexico. It is the largest archaeological site of a pyramid (temple) in the New World, as well as the largest pyramid known to exist in the world today. The pyramid stands 55 metres (180 ft) above the surrounding plain, and in its final form it measured 400 by 400 metres (1,300 by 1,300 ft). The pyramid is a temple that traditionally has been viewed as having been dedicated to the god Quetzalcoatl. The architectural style of the building was linked closely to that of Teotihuacan in the Valley of Mexico, although influence from the Gulf Coast also is evident, especially from El Tajín.
The Cholula archaeological zone is situated 6.4 kilometres (4 mi) west of the city of Puebla, in the city of Cholula. To be more exact, the pyramid is located in the San Andrés Cholula, Puebla municipality, and marks the area in the center of the city where this municipality begins. The city is divided into two municipalities called San Ándres and San Pedro. This division originates in the Toltec-Chichimeca conquest of the city in the twelfth century. These pushed the former dominant ethnicity of the Olmeca-Xicalanca, to the south of the city. These people kept the pyramid as their primary religious center, but the newly dominant Toltec-Chichimecas founded a new temple to Quetzalcoatl where the San Gabriel monastery is now.The Toltec-Chichimec people who settled in the area around the twelfth century AD named Cholula as Tlachihualtepetl, meaning "artificial hill".
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