What was the importance of Cholula?
Cholula was the Holy Place of the three major satellite cities of Teotihuacan. It was destroyed by Cortes and his men on their way to take over Tenochtitlan. The pyramid is in the present day city of Cholula and, in volume, (before destruction) was larger than the Egyptian pyramid of Cheops. After conquest, a church was built on the top of the ruins.
Three successively larger pyramids were built on top of each other here, and served important ceremorilal purposes for the Aztecs. The last and largest pyramid was laced with stucco, which, if not maintained, turns back to mud.
When the pyramid was abandoned, the stucco turned back to mud, and plants and eventually trees grew on it.
Historians think that the Spaniardswere not aware that they were building their church on top of an Aztec pyramid - perhaps they just built it there because it was the highest hill in the area! However, it is very common, both in Mexico and in other cultures with conflicting belief systems, to see buildings associated with one culture constructed on top of or from the rubbles of buildings associated with the other culture.
In Izamal, for example, a large cathedral and courtyard are built on top of a lopped-off pyramid. In India, too, one can see mosques constructed from stones whose carvings show that they were originally part of Hindu temples.
