Historic Centre of Puebla

Site information

• Official name: Historic Centre of Puebla
• Location: Municipalities of Puebla, San Pedro Cholula and San Andres Cholula, State of Puebla, Mexico
• Type: Cultural
• Year of Inscription: 1987

At the foot of Popocatépetl volcano, 7,052 feet above sea level, Spanish colonizers founded Puebla in 1531. They laid out their new city in a Renaissance-style grid and soon began erecting fine baroque buildings. Because of its location between Mexico City and the busy Port of Veracruz, Puebla's layout became a model for other colonial cities in the region, but its architecture remained unique for its brickwork, molded white mortar, and colored tiles, or azulejos, that decorated many facades and contrasts with the dark gray stone often used.

Puebla was the site of the military victory on May 5, 1862, now celebrated as Cinco de Mayo, one of Mexico's most important holidays. The region is known for its food, especially a sauce called mole poblano. The city also contains one of the smallest volcanos in the world, Cuexcomate, 43 feet tall, formed by the 1064 eruption of Popocatépetl.

In all, 2,619 monuments are registered in the city, including museums, theaters, libraries, parks, universities, churches, schools, private homes, and plazas, earning the city the nickname of "Shrine of the Americas." Its cathedral is one of the largest in Latin America.

History

The Cholula people, allied to the Aztecs, occupied a city near the site of Puebla, but when the Spanish arrived in the 1520s, they erected a new city at an unoccupied location nine miles to the east. It was originally called Puebla de los Ángeles, or City of the Angels. As a crossroad, it attracted many travelers, and its mild climate and rich soil made it an important agricultural producer. It soon became a large city.

Inspired by the spirit of the Renaissance, the founders chose to create a rectangular street plan. Each city block was divided into eight parcels, and certain blocks were dedicated to gardens. The main square, or zocalo, in the center of the city became its cultural, religious, and civic focus. It was flanked by a Renaissance-style city hall, a neoclassical cathedral, and the baroque Casa de los Muñecos, or House of Dolls, named for figurines in the tile mosaics on its facade. For many years, a fountain in the square was the main source of potable water.

Work on the Puebla cathedral began in 1535, but in 1575 plans were changed for a larger, more elaborate building. Work ceased in 1626 when money ran out, then in 1634, the plans were changed once again, this time by the master architect of the Mexico City cathedral, who gave it a more neoclassical look. The north tower was completed in 1678 and the south tower in 1768. These remain the tallest church towers in Mexico.

Nearby is the Casa del Deán, or House of the Deacon, built in 1580 for one of the deacons of the cathedral. It is famous for religious-themed frescos in its upper rooms. The Chapel of Our Lady of the Rosary, built in 1650, is one of the best examples of Mexican baroque style. Its ornate interior is almost completely covered by 24-carat gold leaf. The Palafoxian Library, founded in 1646 and still in operation, was the first public library in colonial times. It holds many rare books, and in 2005 was listed in UNESCO's Memory of the World Register.

Puebla's unique style of ceramic work, called Talavera, was based on styles brought from Spain during the colonial period and made use of fine-quality clay available only locally. The colorful pottery and tiles were especially popular between 1650 and 1750 for the decoration of facades. Because the tiles were fragile, they were not used elsewhere except in Mexico City. Production dropped in the early nineteenth century, but the style was revived in the twentieth century, preserving sixteenth-century techniques.

Puebla played a vital role in historic military operations. In 1821, General Agustín de Iturbide entered the city with an army and declared Mexico a sovereign country, ending the War of Independence. When France invaded Mexico in 1862, its army fought with Mexican troops led by General Ignacio Zaragoza in Puebla on May 5. Although outnumbered, Mexican forces won, and the victory is now commemorated with the Cinco de Mayo holiday. The city was later renamed Heroica Puebla de Zaragoza in honor of the general. Puebla was also the scene of a number of events in the Mexican Revolution (1910–20) involving guerrilla leader Emiliano Zapata.

Significance

Puebla set the style for other colonial cities in Mexico in matters of urban planning, architecture, and monumental construction. Its location as a transportation hub helped spread its Renaissance ideas adapted to indigenous conditions.

Many of the buildings in the historic center, still decorated with colorful tiles, remain intact and illustrate the development of architecture over the centuries in religious, civic, and residential buildings. The street plan continues unchanged and is protected by a buffer zone. As the city has grown, it has engulfed the originally outlying Cholula settlements.

However, not all the buildings have been well maintained, except for the churches. Some buildings are still used for their original educational or administrative purposes, while others have been turned into museums. These tend to have restoration plans to guide their maintenance. Residential buildings have not always avoided deterioration. An earthquake in 1999 caused significant damage. Tourism has placed pressure on the historic area, and the original grid suffered as the city was industrialized and its population grew.

Both the private sector and the government have been funding restoration for churches and other buildings. In particular, several prominent cultural institutions, the government, and the Benemérita University have provided technical assistance and funding for projects, and they have developed an overall plan to regenerate the monumental zone and its surrounding area. An agency devoted to preserving and promoting the historic center has also been created.

Bibliography

Brunk, Samuel. Emiliano Zapata! Revolution and Betrayal in Mexico. U of New Mexico P, 2016.

Historic Centre of Puebla. World Heritage List. World Heritage Cultural Centre, UNESCO, 2016. whc.unesco.org/en/list/416. Accessed 17 Jan. 2025.

Morrill, Penny C. The Casa del Deán: New World Imagery in a Sixteenth-Century Mexican Mural Cycle. U of Texas P, 2014.

Newman, Elizabeth Terese. Biography of a Hacienda: Work and Revolution in Rural Mexico. U of Arizona P, 2014.

Puebla. History by Topic. The History Channel, 2009. www.history.com/topics/mexico/puebla. Accessed 17 Jan. 2025.

"Puebla: The Baroque Heart of Mexico." Latin American & Caribbean Geographic, 23 Aug. 2024, lacgeo.com/puebla-mexico. Accessed 17 Jan. 2025.