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| From britannica.com |
The name, Temple of Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli (Lord of the House of the Morning Star), is considerably more elaborate than the five-tiered, blunt-topped platform otherwise known as Tula’s Pyramid B. With Tula’s much larger Pyramid C largely unexcavated, Pyramid B stands as the most promontory feature of the Tula ruins. It’s no wonder why the ancient Toltec capital is so often overlooked and passed by for more impressive Mesoamerican sites.
Though as mundane as Pyramid B appears today, it must have been something to see in its day. The fifth and final stage of its construction boasted a wood and adobe temple that must have ultimately perished in the fire that destroyed the city in AD 1168. The pyramid was fronted by a great colonnaded hall, the Palacio Quemado (otherwise known as the Burnt Palace) and its temple flanked by large Feathered Serpent columns that are missing today. Polychrome bas-reliefs of jaguars, eagles and other impressive creatures must have given the stone structure color and life that can only be imagined today.
It may not be much to look at, but perhaps Pyramid B’s greatness lies not within itself, but in the surreal inspiration it must have stirred throughout Mesoamerica. After all, similar structures span as far as the Yucatan coast, amid cultures very different from the Toltecs.
Much of Pyramid B’s grandeur had been burned and pillaged (most likely by the Chichimecs escaping extreme drought from the north) during Tula’s demise. It was looted later by the Aztecs who re-used sculptures and other pieces of artwork left behind in their own capital city of Tenochtitlan. The greatness of the Toltecs, it seems, had been scattered to the wind, but they left a legacy of influence that would not be forgotten throughout Mesoamerica.
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