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"Massive ancient pyramid discovered in Mexico
For centuries, Catholics have re-enacted the crucifixion on same spot

Eduardo Verdugo / AP

Updated: 6:55 p.m. ET April 5, 2006
MEXICO CITY - Archeologists said Wednesday they have discovered a massive 6th-century Indian pyramid beneath the site of a centuries-old re-enactment of the crucifixion of Christ.

Built on a hillside by the mysterious Teotihuacan culture, the pyramid was abandoned almost 1,000 years before Catholics began re-enacting the Crucifixion there in the 1800s, unaware they were celebrating one of the holiest moments of their faith on a site originally dedicated to gods of earth, wind and rain.

. . .

Culture clash a coincidence?
Mexico abounds with cases in which Spanish conquerors literally built their Catholic faith atop the remains of older religions.

Mexico's Catholic patroness, the Virgin of Guadalupe, appeared to the faithful only a few years after the 1521 Spanish conquest, on a hillside where Aztecs worshipped Tonantzin, their mother of the gods.

Mexico City's cathedral is built atop the remains of an Aztec temple, as are countless other churches in Mexico, partly as an attempt to forcibly supplant pre-Hispanic religions.

But the case of Iztapalapa hillside, known as the Hill of the Star, appears to be mere geographical coincidence, Sanchez said.

Pre-Hispanic cultures chose the hills that dot the otherwise flat, mountain-ringed Mexico Valley for their ceremonial sites, and postcolonial communities did the same, perhaps because the hilltops have commanding views or are safe from floods."

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