Giant pyramid found under hill Mexican Catholics use on Good Friday

Published: 2006-04-07

MEXICO CITY (CNS) -- Archaeologists have discovered a giant 1,500-year old pyramid directly below the site where Mexico City Catholics have been re-enacting the crucifixion of Christ for more than 150 years. What was long thought of as a hill overlooking the city turns out to be a dirt-covered pyramid measuring 165 yards on each of its four sides. Squatters have even built houses on the hill, destroying part of the pre-Columbian structure. The pyramid, located on the capital's south side, was built by the same people who built the mysterious city of Teotihuacan around A.D. 400-500, and its base is about the same size as that archaeological site's famous Pyramid of the Moon, researchers said. The ruins of Teotihuacan lie an hour's drive northeast of Mexico City. On Good Friday, more than a million people will flock to the hill in the Iztapalapa neighborhood to watch local the annual re-enactment of Christ's final hours, when a man chosen to portray Christ is hung from a cross atop the hill.

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