This place was not actually somewhere we had even heard of before arriving in San Miguel de Allende a few weeks earlier. We had been thinking more about our plans for getting to Cuba in the coming weeks, not about what there was to see in the immediate area. Brian and Carley (ADVENTURE OR NOTHING) suggested we stop by. We remembered them saying positive things about this particular pyramid. There was even a church built on top of it.
It was just a brief, overnight stop en route to warmer weather. But Brian and Carley were right, we couldn’t miss seeing the great pyramid of Cholula. It is the largest pyramid in the world*—take that Egypt. Apparently this pyramid is the largest monument ever built. Although, at first glance, it appears to be a hill with a church on it.
A sign near the entrance to the church tells of how the Spanish first erected a cross on top of the pyramid which was destroyed by lightning strike. Not taking the hint, they tried that a couple more times and eventually built a big, sturdy church to make a point. It is this church which you can see on the top of the pyramid today.
Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de los Remedios
The presence of an historic church on top of an even more historic pyramid of such a grand scale makes this a memorable attraction.
If you are worried that visiting such a place would be a disappointment after visiting an active volcano, never fear, you can also see Popocatépetl from the same spot—win!
Popocatépetl from the top of the pyramid.
For much of the time we were in town, the volcano was hidden behind cloud not of its own making. We did catch glimpses of greyer smoke behind the cloud, suggesting that the volcano was back in business.
Even without the erupting volcano to look at, the view from the top of the pyramid was impressive.
We had to keep reminding ourselves that we weren’t standing on a hill. People built this. Without a single excavator or dump truck.
Around the base of the pyramid, sections of the structure and different stages of building have been partially excavated and restored, so you can get a feel for what the site would have looked like before it looked like a hill with a church on it.
This might all seem like reason enough to visit Tlachihualtepetl, the Great Pyramid of Cholula. But what makes this pyramid even greater, is that in order to better understand the construction of this monument, archaeologists dug several kilometres of tunnels beneath the massive structure.
Less than one kilometre of these tunnels are open to the public, but that is still several hundred metres of awesome to explore.
Let the exploration begin.
We got to see the many different layers of construction that went into this grand monument. The final addition of the church wasn’t the first time this pyramid had been repurposed, this site had been built upon several times over the centuries, with new structures superimposed over older buildings. With this approach to architecture, you can start to understand how Tlachihualtepetl became so huge.
Nothing much, just a tunnel beneath the largest pyramid in the world.
The tunnels we were exploring were well lit and easy to follow. However, off in every direction—but behind locked gates—we could see tunnels heading off into the darkness. Some descending to lower levels, others twisting around corners and disappearing, other staircases led up and out of our sight. It must be quite an adventure to explore all these tunnels. Although it is easy to see why they don’t allow us tourists to wander from the approved route, they’d be accidentally locking people in at the end of every day if it were all open. It did leave us wondering who you would have to bribe, pay or sweet talk for a ‘behind the scenes’ tour here…
We had enjoyed our brief visit to the unique and memorable Cholula, but warmer weather was calling. It was time to leave this place behind and make for the coast.
