Puebla

Puebla
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The Historic Centre of Puebla is one of the oldest colonial cities in the continent. The city of Puebla was founded on April 16, 1531 as "La Puebla de los Ángeles". It was the first city in central Mexico founded by the Spanish conquerors that was not built upon the ruins of a conquered Amerindian settlement. Its strategic location, half-way between the port of Veracruz and Mexico City, made it the second most important city during the colonial period.

Year Decision Comments
1987 Inscribed Reasons for inscription

Reviews

Paul Tanner (UK):
With a population of c1.4 million, the city of Puebla was by far the largest of the WHS-inscribed provincial “colonial” Centros Historicos we saw during our tour of Central Mexico in Mar 2008 (as well as being the 7th we had visited in 11 days!). As a result I was somewhat doubtful both whether it would have preserved much worth seeing and whether it could really offer anything new. On both counts I was pleasantly surprised.

The compact central area (50 blocks or so) is well preserved and conveys a distinctive impression which sets it apart from other Mexican cities. This is partly due to a significant external use of “azulejo” tiles which have traditionally been made in the region (photo 1). Most of the buildings are 19th century but with reasonably large numbers from the 17th/18th Centuries too – with the later ones managing to maintain the overall feeling of “grandeur”.

Now we were getting pretty “churched out” on our trip and Puebla’s enormous Cathedral seemed, to our taste, rather oppressive in atmosphere and mawkish in iconography. However, when we moved on the 4 blocks to the Rosary Chapel we were just “blown away” by its magnificence. Nowhere before have I ever seen so much decoration so tightly fitted in to such a large area as the walls and ceiling of this chapel (photo 2). It is of course totally OTT, but this ultimate in “Baroqueness” should definitely be seen. In my view this building alone justified our visit to Puebla!

One of the “great sights” of Puebla, often portrayed in photos, is the view of Popocatapetl from there – so we got ourselves up a 6.30 am and drove up to the “Fuerte” (Fort) where the best view is achievable but Popo’ wasn’t obliging that morning! Luckily we had excellent views 2 days later from the (rather closer) town of Amecameca!

It is interesting to read the ICOMOS evaluation for Puebla. I was surprised to discover that the original proposal was to inscribe it “in tandem” with nearby Cholula – which is built on a pre-Hispanic town/pyramid. ICOMOS rejected the idea (but in the same year accepted the joint proposal for Oaxaca/Monte Alban q.v.). However the UNESCO Web Site still describes the inscribed location as including the “municipalites de Puebla, San Pedro Cholula et San Andres Cholula”. But, since the inscribed size is 597ha and the buffer zone is 102ha, it doesn’t seem likely that anywhere in the Cholula municipalities, 12kms away, would be included.
 
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First of all I'm from Puebla.
Puebla ist the most beutiful, colonial city in Mexico, the wonderful cathedral, constructed by angels, may be one of the most beutiful monuments in the world. If you want to see an incredible place, come to Puebla and enjoy it, Puebla is for all the humanity!
 
Jorge Ivan Giraldo (United States):
Puebla, a baroche town. But the baroche has a different meaning overthere, because it is not anymore an academic style, it is a laboratory of the style, ussing arabs, aztecs and catholics influences. The new convention center, designed by legorreta, it is a great sample of respect for the city, history, tradition. It is a panoramic balcony (360') to the town. the main view is the San Francisco church.
 
Juan Carlos (Mexico):
I arrived Puebla after my high school studies to begin with my undergraduate at UDLA in Cholula, Puebla. After i came for the first time i told myself "is the right place to be, because everyday of my life here, i will have some historic place to visit" There are lots of historic elements in the city to consider the character of a "Colonial" city where you could feel the history as you had been at that time, "el cilindrero", "el algodonero", and specially the marvelous gastronomy that involves the old elements of traditional cooks with some new from the world. If you are planning to visit Puebla, let me tell you that you have chosen a really nice and interesting place to be.
 


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