After visiting the House of the Old Woman, we walked over to the Grand Pyramid. The Grand Pyramid is the other major pyramid (after the Pyramid of the Magician) at Uxmal. It sits behind the Governor’s Palace. Unlike the Pyramid of the Magician, the Grand Pyramid is not fully excavated and restored. In particular, only the front side is completely excavated. I think the Grand Pyramid is taller than the Pyramid of the Magician. I loved walking to the top of this pyramid. Great exercise if nothing else.
According to the INAH Plaque accompanying this temple, the Grand Pyramid is located on the north side of a Saq Be which goes south to a small pyramidal temple (I believe this temple is located at Kabah). Several superimposed terraces with gently rounded corners form the Grand Pyramid. The Grand Pyramid has a broad stairway on its south side and a temple with 4 rooms on its top. The Grand Pyramid and the 2 small temples at its base face south, directly towards Saq Be 2. A group of stone hewn altars sits at the bottom of the stairway. The Mayans decorated Altars III and IV with bas reliefs that show people performing rituals illustrative of those held at this temple. Each figure wears a bird-head helmet, plus wings on the arms. Altars II and V are plain. Of the known altars at Kabah, many are associated with the complex formed by the South Pyramid (at Kabah), the Saq Be, and the Grand Pyramid, bestowing ceremonial importance on the Central Group (? Not sure what INAH means here either). The Grand Pyramid is 30 meters (97 1/2 feet) high and 80 meters (about feet) long on its north side. It is a 9-tiered, broken shaped, stepped pyramid. The steps on the north side lead to a platform and a temple called the “Macaw Temple”. The masks decorating the corners of the temple are more rounded than the others in Uxmal. The Grand Pyramid dates to the 8th Century (700-799) A.D.
