Teocalli

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A teocalli (Nahuatl: "God-house") is a Mesoamerican pyramid surmounted by a temple. The pyramid is terraced, and some of the most important religious rituals in Pre-Columbian Mexico took place in the temple at the top of the pyramid.

One of the Cuban poet José María Heredia's best-known poems is titled En el teocalli de Cholula.

Also used in modern context by Chicano people involved in the Native American Church. Chicano chapters of the Native American Church refer to the organization as a "teocalli".

The famous, although no longer extant, Aztec Teocalli was located in what is now Mexico City's main square, the Zocalo. A famous 1848 painting by Emanuel Leutze depicts "The Storming of the Teocalli by Cortez and His Troops," which Leutze painted four years before his classic "Washington Crossing the Delaware."

[edit] See also

• Churubusco

This article incorporates text from the public domain 1907 edition of The Nuttall Encyclopædia.