Teotihuacán - Sun Pyramid

(Local Name: Plaza de la Pirámide del Sol) Going past the House of the Priests (Casa de los Sacerdotes) on the right-hand side, we come up a broad flight of steps to the square of the Sun Pyramid (Plaza de la Pirámide del Sol), which is some 70 m (231 ft) wide. In the middle there is an altar, while at the corners there are the remains of temples and other buildings.

At the eastern end of the square we see the largest building in Teotihuacán towering up, the Sun Pyramid (Pirámide del Sol). This gigantic structure, which in the whole of Meso-America is only surpassed in size by the Pyramid of Cholula, is laid out in such a way that on the day of the summer solstice the sun sets exactly opposite its front side. The base area (220 3 225 m (722 3 738 ft)) is almost as big as the Egyptian pyramid of Cheops, its height (63 m (207 ft), with the former temple 74 m (243 ft)) is however less by 70 m (230 ft). The capacity of its interior, which for the most part is filled with adobe bricks, has been estimated as being a million cubic metres (1,308,000 cu. yd). In the course of ill-fated restoration work at the beginning of this century a layer of stucco and stone not less than 7 m (23 ft) thick was lost from the original covering of the pyramid. Two rows of steps lead across the entrance building, which is divided into three parts, up to the first level section of the pyramid. From here a wide staircase goes up past several intermediate storeys to the top of the building, which is where the temple once stood. From the top the visitor has a magnificent view of the whole of the archaeological site.

In 1971 a shaft 7 m (23 ft) deep was discovered by chance at the foot of the main flight of steps. From it a 103 m (351 ft) long passageway leads to a group of four cloverleaf-shaped rooms. Inside these chambers, which until today have not been open to the public, the remains of ceramic objects and slates (mirrors?) have been discovered, presumably left behind after acts of plunder. The most wide-ranging speculative theories have been advanced as to the purpose of this cave system, which was probably laid out around ad 250 - these extend from a place of sacrifice or a tomb to a cult chamber dedicated to the rain or maize gods.