Great Pyramid of Cholula: The Largest Pyramid by Volume

The Great Pyramid of Cholula, known in Nahuatl as Tlachihualtepetl (“artificial mountain”), is the largest pyramid in the world by volume. Begun around the 3rd century BC in the Puebla valley of central Mexico, it was enlarged in several major stages over roughly a thousand years. Today it looks like a grassy hill crowned by a Spanish colonial church, with the remains of ancient temples buried inside.

Background: Cholula and the Puebla valley

Cholula lies in the fertile Puebla–Tlaxcala valley, east of the Valley of Mexico and close to the volcanoes Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl. The area was farmed from early times, and a town grew at Cholula during the late first millennium BC.

Cholula is often described as one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the Americas. Unlike many ancient Mesoamerican cities, it was never fully abandoned, and it remained an important religious and trading centre through to the Spanish conquest. Its long life overlapped with the rise and fall of Teotihuacan, the great city in the Valley of Mexico to the north-west.

Building the pyramid

The pyramid was not built in one effort but in a series of enlargements, each new structure covering the old one. Archaeologists generally recognise at least four major phases, with many smaller modifications.

The earliest structure, begun around the 3rd century BC, was a relatively modest platform. In the following centuries it was rebuilt several times. One early phase used the talud-tablero style, a sloping wall topped by a vertical panel, which is also typical of Teotihuacan. Some inner structures were decorated with painted designs, including a well-known pattern of grasshoppers.

Later enlargements turned the pyramid into an enormous structure built mostly of adobe (sun-dried mud brick) with stone facing. The final stages are usually dated to the Classic and Epiclassic periods, up to about AD 800–900. By then the base measured roughly 400–450 metres on each side.

Size and comparisons

The pyramid’s height is usually given as about 55–66 metres, depending on how it is measured, which is much lower than the original 146 metres of the Great Pyramid of Giza. But its huge base gives it a volume estimated at around 4.4–4.5 million cubic metres, nearly twice that of the Great Pyramid of Giza. That makes it the largest pyramid, and one of the largest structures of any kind, built before modern times.

The size came from accumulation rather than one master plan. Each generation of builders covered earlier temples, so the pyramid grew outward and upward over centuries, like layers of an onion.

The Mural of the Drinkers and the Patio of the Altars

Excavations have revealed remarkable works of art. The best known is the Mural of the Drinkers (Mural de los Bebedores), a painted scene more than 50 metres long, usually dated to around AD 200. It shows dozens of figures drinking what is thought to be pulque, a fermented drink made from the agave plant, probably in a ritual or festive setting.

On the south side of the pyramid lies the Patio of the Altars, a courtyard with carved stone altars and stelae, some decorated with interlaced scroll designs linked to the Gulf Coast style of El Tajín. Burials found here and nearby include offerings of pottery and other goods.

A sacred city through the ages

The pyramid was the religious heart of Cholula for much of its history, but the city’s role changed over time. When Teotihuacan declined in the 6th and 7th centuries AD, Cholula survived and became one of the main powers of central Mexico. Around this time the pyramid received its last great enlargements.

In the Postclassic period, from about AD 900, newcomers took control of the city, and the main centre of worship shifted to a new temple dedicated to Quetzalcoatl, the Feathered Serpent, in the middle of the town. The old pyramid was no longer the main temple, but it remained a respected sacred place. Cholula became a famous pilgrimage centre, and its craftsmen were known across Mesoamerica for fine painted pottery.

By the early 16th century Cholula was a large city, allied at times with the Aztecs of Tenochtitlan and at times with their rivals in Tlaxcala, and it was said to have hundreds of temples.

Under a colonial church

When Spanish forces under Hernán Cortés arrived in 1519, Cholula was a major city with many temples and a great shrine to the god Quetzalcoatl in its centre. During their stay the Spaniards and their allies killed a large number of Cholulans, an event described in our article on the Cholula massacre. By then the old pyramid was already covered by earth and vegetation and looked like a hill.

In the late 16th century the Spanish built a church dedicated to Nuestra Señora de los Remedios (Our Lady of Remedies) on the summit, part of a deliberate policy of placing Christian shrines on Indigenous sacred places. The church was damaged by earthquakes, including in 1864 and 1999, and was repaired each time. It remains a pilgrimage site, and its image against the snow-capped Popocatépetl is one of Mexico’s most famous views.

Excavation

Systematic exploration began in 1931 under the Mexican architect and archaeologist Ignacio Marquina. Rather than demolish the church or the hill, archaeologists dug tunnels into the pyramid, eventually creating about 8 kilometres of passages that follow the walls of earlier buildings. Later projects in the 1960s and 1970s uncovered parts of the base, including the Patio of the Altars and reconstructed terraces on the south and west sides. Much of the pyramid remains unexcavated. Full excavation would mean removing the church and the hill that supports it, so archaeologists have preferred to study the monument through tunnels, test pits and modern survey methods, leaving most of its history still buried.

Myths and facts

A popular story says that the Spanish built their church without knowing a pyramid lay beneath it. In fact the pyramid’s man-made origin was part of local tradition, and the Nahuatl name itself means “artificial mountain”. Another common claim is that Cholula is the “biggest pyramid ever”. That is true for volume, but not for height, where the pyramids of Khufu and Khafre at Giza are more than twice as high.

Timeline

• c. 3rd century BC: The first phase of the pyramid is built at Cholula.
• c. 1st–3rd centuries AD: Enlargements include a talud-tablero phase similar to Teotihuacan.
• c. AD 200: The Mural of the Drinkers is painted in an early building phase.
• c. AD 800–900: The final major enlargement of the pyramid is completed.
• 1519: Spanish forces under Cortés arrive in Cholula; the Cholula massacre takes place.
• Late 16th century: The church of Nuestra Señora de los Remedios is built on the summit.
• 1931: Ignacio Marquina begins excavations and tunnelling.
• 1999: An earthquake damages the church, which is later restored.

Why it matters

The Great Pyramid of Cholula is a monument to the long life of a Mesoamerican city that survived the fall of Teotihuacan, the rise of the Aztecs and the Spanish conquest. Its layered construction shows how sacred places were renewed again and again over centuries. Crowned by a church, it also stands as a vivid symbol of how Indigenous and colonial histories are layered together in modern Mexico.