San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1923-02-25
CHURCH BUILT
ON APEX Of 1
:. TALL PYRAMID
sv,
ChoIula Structure Has I'm
pressed Thousands
of Visitors.
REBUILT BY SPANISH
Age aMystery-Calculated
in Thousands of
.s Centuries.
REBUILT BY SPANISH

Cholula. Mexico, Feb. 24.-Cholula
is noted throughout Mexico and
among the travellers who have visit
ed here, as a city Of churches, since
there are reputed to be 800 churches,
channels and other places of worship Ill
the town. But its greatest claim 10
ecclesiastical honOrs is the fact that
II has a church built on the summit
of a prehistoric pyramid which vles
with similar structures in Egypt, both
in size and antiquity.
When COrtez first came to MeXi-
co. in the early part of the sixteenth
century, the history of this great
pyramid of Cholula was lost in the
misty past of tradition and on ITS
broad summit, something over 2OO
feet from the level of the surround
ing plain, were the crumbling remains
of temple, which, from the various
sculptures and other hieroglyphlc
records, is believed TO have been de
voted to the worship of the God OF
the Air. Following the customs Of
the missionaries of that period, this
pagan temple, though in ruins, was
replaced by a Christian church and
dedicated to Our Lady Of the Rene
dies. There it still stands, as spick
and span as though completed but
Pyramid Monster Affair.
The mighty mound on which the
church is located measures approx
mately 1000 feet square at the base
and is apparently made up Of four flat
topped pyramids, each superimposed
upon the next larger one. The up
permost, on which the church is built,
is. like the others, truncated and its
broad, flat top measures 2O3 feet by
144 feet. From the summit one looks
down on other pyramids which,
though large, are mere infants com
pared to this greatest pyTamldal
structure to be found in all America.
When the Spaniards built their
church on its summit they also built
stepped incline winding up the
sides TO the top. This they paved
with cut stones, many of which were
taken from the ruins of the ancient
temple, and as the modern tourist
climbs the weary way he finds him
self stepping on carvings and hero
glyphics made by race which was lost
TO tradition even before Columbus
thought of the land that lay beyond
the. seas. In spite Of its hundreds Of
years of use, this incline is in per-
feet condition and the stones polished
TO almost CLASSY smOOthness by the
countless thousands Of Sandalcd feet
which have trod it to worship in the
church at the summit.
Ravages Of Time.
l.. l.,
pyramid and the parasitic vegetable
growth and the leveling influences
OF the clements have done much to
round and break down the sharper
lines which it once possessed. But
TO the observer the original form is
still clear, though the mind has 70
supply many of the angles This is
due TO the decomposition of the ma
terial of which it is built Where
the incline, above referred to, has
cut into the sides Of the pyramid,
its structural composition is made
plain. II was patiently laid, brick
upon brick, with an earth mortar be.
tween. There is apparently a fill of
ordinary earth and then a facing Of
bricks laid on to give. it an even and
uniform surface, as is customary in
most pyramids. But from the origi.
nal ground level, it was built up
course by course, with adobe. or sun.
Tried brick. the same as those which
are today used in Mexico for general
building purposes. The adjacent
smaller mounds show the same form
of construction.
Where this great mass Of material
comes from there is no nearby sign
but the thousands of years which
have passed since this monument wa,
built, could have eliminated any signs
that may have existed. just as the,
have eliminated all TRACES of the peo
Pile. who did the work.
OF the other ancient ruins in Mexi
GO more or less is known. ArchacoI
egists say that Militia flourished 37O(
years ago and that San Juan Teoti
huacan antedates the Christian era
but of the great pyramid of ChoIula
none Of them date TO place date OF
its probable origin, not even within
, radius Of 1000 years.