Teotihuacan and Cholula: The History of the Most Important Mesoamerican Cities of the Preclassic Era

On January 31, 378 CE, a massive army arrived at the gates of the city of Tikal, one of the Ancient Maya’s most important settlements in the Yucatan Peninsula. The events that transpired became known by the Spanish name "Entrada" (“Entry”), referring to "the entry of Teotihuacan". While there is no clear record of the events due to the sheer scale of destruction that took place, it’s clear that neither Tikal nor the Maya as a whole had ever seen anything like it because these foreign soldiers not only conquered but also subsequently ruled Tikal despite the fact they had come from Teotihuacan, located about 630 miles (1,013 kilometers) away. In the process, the Teotihuacanos not only changed Tikal but the direction of the Mayan civilization for centuries to come.

At the time, Teotihuacan was the biggest city in South America and was located in the Valley of Mexico near today's Mexico City. Thriving between 100-750 CE, it was one of the largest cities in the ancient world, with a population estimated at upwards of 150,000-250,000, over three times the size of contemporary Mayan capitals. Furthermore, Teotihuacan was a supremely well-planned and efficient city that was able to field massive armies and extend its power far beyond its home base to create a unified empire unlike anything in the region before it. In fact, the city’s residents seemed so sure of its power that there were apparently no walls or military fortifications around Teotihuacan. Thanks to that power, Teotihuacan not only served as a vital center for trade in Ancient Mesoamerica but also spread its architecture, art, religion, and culture, all of which subsequently influenced the famous Mesoamerican civilizations that followed, including the Aztec and Maya.

Although Teotihuacan reached the height of its power and influence about 1500 years ago, the city is still an endless topic of fascination and debate, in addition to being Mexico’s most toured archaeological site. The origins of the city remain mysterious (as do the city’s founders), and scholars are still coming up with theories to explain the city’s demise. All the while, later Mesoamerican civilizations remembered Teotihuacan, and the Aztec even considered the city’s ruins a site of worship.

Cholula is one of the most interesting, enigmatic, and forgotten cities in ancient Mesoamerica, and few people are aware that it is the oldest continuously-occupied settlement in the entire Western hemisphere. The current city is known for the Great Pyramid, which has the largest base of all pyramids in the world, as well as its many colonial churches and constant religious celebrations. All of these things ensure that Cholula is heavily visited, but the tremendous importance of Prehispanic Cholula has mostly been lost in the historical accounts of Puebla and even Mexico as a whole.

During the height of Teotihuacan’s influence in the Classic period and the expansion of the Aztecs in the Postclassic, Cholula managed to maintain its independence and grew to become the greatest religious center in central Mesoamerica. As the main site for the cult of the god Quetzalcoatl, Cholula received pilgrims from many Prehispanic cities, and the two high priests of the Temple of Quetzalcoatl were charged with confirming the legitimacy of these foreign rulers, making their role one of the most important in the region.

Most sources note that Cholula was a great religious center with a large pyramid, and that it was the site of a terrible massacre perpetrated by the Spanish, but other than that those details, the impressive city remains mostly unknown. As one writer put it, “It is paradoxical that in Cholula, that which the conquistadores set out to accomplish in 1519 persists till this day: that no one would know or value its past.”