Rising in the distance close to Cholula is the largest pyramid in the Americas. Dedicated to Quezalcoatl, it is 1150 feet at its base and 216 feet tall. Like all Mexican pyramids, this one was built atop others constructed before it. The original temple, dating from around 500 B.C. was uncovered, and measured 350 feet at its base and was 59 feet tall. This temple was then covered by another. Smaller buildings surrounded this pyramid; in turn, these were covered over by the current pyramid and its walls and stairways. Archaeological remains from nine separate periods were uncovered revealing that the pyramid of Cholula was a witness to at least two thousand years of civilization.