The Largest Pyramid in the World is the Great Pyramid of Cholula in Mexico

Most people quite reasonably think that the largest pyramid in the world would be in Egypt but this is not so.  In terms of volume, Cholula dwarfs any other man made structure on Earth at a massive 4.45 million m³!

What the Fact?

Quetzalcoatl: The "Feathered Serpent"

You can compare that with the Great Pyramid of Giza which comes in at a mere 2.5 million m³.  Also known as Tlachihualtepetl, the temple was constructed around the 2nd Century BC and was built in homage to the Mesoamerican deity Quetzalcoatl. The base of this giant structure is a huge 450 by 450 m (1476×1476 ft) and it stands at 66 m (217 ft) tall!

The original  pyramid was built by the Teotihuacán people who ruled the Cholula area from around 1 AD. Then in around 600AD, the Olmeca-Xicallanca built the second great pyramid right on top of the first.  Around 1300 AD, the Toltecs conquered Cholula but were finally conquered themselves killed by the Aztecs in around 1500.

Unfortunately much of the pyramid has yet to be uncovered and to the untrained eye it looks like nothing more than a hill surrounded by a church but on closer inspection, you can see the outline of the structure beneath in the grass sides of the hill.  The church, called Nuestra Señora de los Remedios (Church of Our Lady of the Remedies) is the problem herethough.  Because of the historic and religious significance of the church archaeologists have not been able to excavate any more than one side of the pyramid but they have managed to uncover 5 miles of tunnels for anyone visiting the site to explore.

Of course, for many of us, that’s quite far to travel so you’ll have to be content with viewing it from Google Maps instead.