2015 APR – PUEBLA PLAZA

I loved the city of Puebla!

I loved the weather. I loved the architecture. I loved the preserved historic nature of the place. I loved the laid back people and lifestyle. I loved the huge tree-filled plaza (zocalo) surrounded by boutiques, restaurants, cafes, and ice cream parlors.

I was happy to spend hours hanging out, eating their delicious cuisine, visiting museums, or just sitting quietly in their exquisite churches and chapels soaking up the ambience.

In 1987 the city was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to it’s historic and cultural architecture.

Puebla was founded in 1531 and is located south-east of Mexico City; it is the fourth largest city in Mexico. It was built new as a Spanish city and not on a pre-existing pre-Hispanic settlement. The city layout is classic Spanish with a central plaza, called the Zocalo, where weekly markets called tianguis were held, and fresh drinking water was introduced via a large fountain.

Mexico City was the Spanish capital of Mexico and Veracruz was the main port on Mexico’s east coast (in the Gulf of Mexico) where the Spanish anchored their fleets and trading vessels. Puebla’s strategic location as the trading mid-point between Mexico City and Veracruz helped it to prosper.

During the War of Independence of 1810 Puebla’s role was to print and distribute the plan for independence. After independence in 1827 all the Spaniards were expelled from the city.

Puebla is most famous for Cinco de Mayo. On May 5th,1862 in the Battle of Puebla the Mexican forces defeated the French invading forces which were considered the most powerful army in the world at that time. 5 de Mayo became an annual event to celebrate this historic victory. Unfortunately a year later the French forces got back the city, but then left again 3 years later. Reconstruction of the city then began.

THE CATHEDRAL OF PUEBLA

The Cathedral was begun in 1575 and took 300 years to complete. This is not surprising considering its 5 enormous naves and fourteen inside chapels. We took photo after photo right up until the time we were yelled at – seems pics are banned.

 

 

SUNDRY PICS

 

 

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 22nd, 2015 at 1:38 pm and is filed under 2 - ADVENTURES, 2015 Mexico. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.