View of Great Temple I, rear facade, from the east causeway approach. Its height above the Great Plaza is 145 feet. From this point, a visitor's first glimpse, the structure appears higher because the Great Plaza itself is about five meters higher than this East Plaza surface. In the foreground is Str 5D 44 which displays Teotihuacan imagery and relates to a ball court in the vegetation immediately to the right.

As built, the entire structure was covered with white plaster polished to a mirror smoothness.