The World's Largest Pyramid Cannot Be Seen

Temple of the Two-Headed Snake -- Tikal, Guatemala [my pic]

The last blog entry -- "The World's Tallest Non-Metal Structures; You've Never Heard of Them" -- pointed out that the Great Pyramid of Giza (aka the Pyramid of Khufu or Pyramid of Cheops) was built around 2560 BCE, and that its original height, 146.5 m (481 ft) made it the tallest building of any kind in the world for about 4,000 years. It stands to reason, therefore, that since it was the tallest building in the world, the Great Pyramid must also be the largest pyramid ever built (before modern construction materials). Well, it does still stand, but not to reason after all: There have been larger stone pyramids built (and still stand!); you just don't know about them.

Of course, this depends on what we mean by "large" when referring to pyramids. The Great Pyramid certainly was the tallest, but what about its ground surface area? What about its volume? Hadn't you thought about that? Let's look at the Great Pyramid:

Height:     146.5 m

Base:        53,084 m²  (230 m x 230 m)
Volume:   2.5 million m³

There are quite a few other pyramids in Egypt that top 100 m in height, but there are pyramids that are larger, if not taller than any in Egypt.

Tikal, Guatemala

The Mayans were well known for building pyramids. The tallest excavated Mayan pyramid is located in Tikal, Guatemala. The Temple of the Two-Headed Snake (Temple-IV), built around 741 CE, is about 65 m tall, which actually isn't even half as high as the Great Pyramid. Its supporting platform takes up about 15,500 m², and its volume is about 190,000 m³ -- both which also fall well below the Great Pyramid's numbers. So, I guess it wasn't the Mayans who surpassed the pharaohs... or was it? 

El Mirador, Guatemala

El Mirador, a vast isolated Mayan complex, was discovered less than 100 years ago, and not even mapped until 1962 -- and structures there still remain mostly covered by the jungle growth. However, one unexcavated pyramid, La Danta, is considered by many to be the largest pyramid ever built. It was the tallest pyramid ever built by the Mayans, 70 m -- although, again, that's less than half the height of the Great Pyramid. Its ground surface area (18,000 m²) was also dwarfed by the pyramid in Egypt. So why am I even bringing it into this discussion? Because its walls are less steep than the Giza structure, its volume totals 2.8 million m³, which is about 12% more than its Egyptian competitor. La Danta remains so unexplored that the date of its construction has not even been determined, although it could be from as long ago as 100 BCE. 

La Danta Pyramid -- El Mirador, Guatemala (artist's rendition)

But the Mayans weren't the only pyramid builders in the Americas.

Teotihuacan, Mexico

In Teotihuacan, near present-day Mexico City, there was a pre-Aztec culture that built a pyramid that rivals the Great Pyramid. Begun around 100 CE, the Pyramid of the Sun was the tallest structure in the Americas, reaching 75 m. Although it was much shorter than the Great Pyramid, and its volume was only 1.18 million m³, its base covered a larger area: 59,214 m², almost 12% more than the Egyptian version.

So, are we calling the Pyramid of the Sun the largest pyramid ever because it had a larger surface area than the Great Pyramid? What about La Danta, because it had a larger volume? No, there is a pyramid even larger than either of these two, and no one can see it.

Pyramid of the Sun -- Teotihuacan, Mexico [my pic]

Cholula, Mexico

From the 3rd Century BCE through the 9th Century CE, the Great Pyramid of Cholula, also known as Tlachihualtepetl, rose near the present city of Puebla. Even though it topped out at "only" 66 m, the length of each base measures 450 m, which is almost twice as long as the Giza Pyramid. Therefore, its base covers over 200,000 m², about four times the area covered by the Egyptian champion. And that's not all: While Giza totals 2.5 million m³ in volume, Tlachihualtepetl consumes 4.45 million m³! Therefore, except for its relatively lower lower height, Tlachihualtepetl is the largest pyramid in the world ever built by hand in both ground surface area and volume.

Why then, you ask, is the Great Pyramid of Giza an iconic symbol for thousands of years, and you have never heard of, or seen, Tlachihualtepetl? And why do I keep telling you that no one can see it? Is it a ghost? No. Though it is the size of a small mountain, no one in modern times has actually seen what it looks like because archaeologists are prohibited from clearing the soil and overgrowth. Why? Well, in 1575, someone decided to construct the Nuestra Señora de los Remedios Church atop the pyramid, and it is now feared that excavating the pyramid underneath will weaken the structure of the church.

Tlachihualtepetl  c. 900 (1890's artist's rendition)

Therefore, like The Most Magnificent Ancient Palace Never Seen, the largest pyramid ever built has been located, identified, described -- and is accessible -- but might never be seen in our lifetime.

  Señora de los Remedios Church atop Tlachihualtepetl [my pic]