Archaeologists discover ancient pyramid beneath Mexico City

A massive pre-Hispanic pyramid dating from the sixth century has been found in a low-income Mexico City neighbourhood where residents were preparing for a bloody annual re-enactment of the crucifixion.

Archaeologists found the temple beneath a hilltop site in the Itzapalapa district, where local people have celebrated Easter week with a vivid staging of the flagellation and death of Christ for more than two centuries.

The pyramid was built by the ancient Teotihuacan culture, whose people built a vast citadel consisting of two large pyramids dedicated to sun and moon deities about 30 miles north-east of the Mexican capital. Built into a hill, the pyramid was hidden from view for centuries by a layer of earth and debris about two feet deep.

Archaeologists said the discovery of the pyramid, which measures 150 metres by 120 metres and is as high as nine-storey building, came as a surprise to residents of the neighbourhood, which has become infamous in recent years for muggings and kidnappings.

"When they first saw us digging there, the local people just couldn't believe there was a pyramid there," said Jesus Sanchez, an archaeologist with the National Institute of Anthropology and History. "It was only when the slopes and shapes of the pyramid and the altars were found that they finally believed us."

The dig is being carried out on the hilltop site just yards from three towering crosses erected for the annual celebrations of the Passion of Christ. The event, which attracts around a million people every Good Friday, was first held in 1833 by survivors of a cholera epidemic.

The north side of the pyramid opens out into a large square, marked by a low boundary wall. On the south side there is another small temple, with evidence of holes in the walls for offerings to be placed.

Investigators say the site was abandoned around AD800, when the Teotihuacan culture collapsed for unknown reasons. But the pyramid also had been partially rebuilt by the Coyotlatelcas, a little-known culture that went on to found the Toltec civilisation. The site has already been damaged by unregulated construction in the area, where builders have driven house foundations into the temple structure. To prevent further damage, archaeologists plan to fill in their dusty slit trenches ahead of the festival and will not carry out a full excavation.

"Both the pre-Hispanic structure and the Holy Week rituals are part of our cultural legacy, so we have to look for a way to protect both cultural values," said Mr Sanchez, who, along with his fellow archaeologist Miriam Advincula, has been exploring the site for the past two years.

The over-layering of religious beliefs at the site is far from unique in Mexico City, a sprawling metropolis built on top of an Aztec city of water gardens and soaring temples once linked by stone causeways. The first instance occurred a few years after the Spanish conquest in 1521, when Mexico's Catholic patron saint, the Virgin of Guadalupe, appeared before a Mexican shepherd, Juan Diego, on a hillside.