08/12/2021

Puebla is the capital and the largest city of the Puebla State.

Historic Center of Puebla

Puebla de Zaragoza or shortly Puebla is located at the foot of the Popocatépetl volcano, and its foundation was in 1531.

The Historic Monuments Zone of Puebla is an almost 7 km polygon that is considered the origin and historic center of Puebla de Zaragoza, the capital of Puebla State, and was decreed an area of Historic Monuments in 1977 by presidential decree.

On December 11, 1987, the Historic Center of Puebla City has declared by UNESCO a World Heritage Site.

You can admire the mosaic of its many buildings, highlighting some, because such are its facades that feature the harmonious combination of bricks with artistic tiles and reliefs in white mortar.

The preservation of this urban-architectural heritage was the reason for the historic center of Puebla to enter the List of World Heritage Sites. The historic center still retains a lot of colonial architecture.

Several of the oldest buildings were badly damaged after the 1999 earthquake, which were subsequently repaired. However, after the effects of the 2017 earthquake, some of them again suffered damage.

Of all the colonial buildings, the most impressive is the Puebla Cathedral, built in a neoclassical style.

The Chapel of the Rosary in the church of Santo Domingo is an example of a Mexican dramatic baroque.

Other important places are El Barrio del Artist, where local arts and the Center and the Zocalo are produced, where the Puebla Cathedral and the Municipal Palace are located.

Monuments Zone of Puebla

The area of historical monuments in the city of Puebla, subject to the Federal Decree comprises an area of 6.99 sq km consisting of 391 blocks in which there are 2,619 buildings with historical value built in three centuries XVI and XIX and of which 61 were destined, at some time, to the religious worship

Among them, the convent groups of San Francisco, Santo Domingo, San Agustín, El Carmen, Santa Bárbara, San Antonio and the Society of Jesus, the convents of Nuns of Santa Teresa, Santa Clara, The Holy Trinity, Santa Rosa, Santa Inés and Santa Mónica, the temples of Guadalupe, San Pablo, San José, San Marcos, Santo Angel de Analco, de la Luz and de la Santa Cruz.

Among the aforementioned buildings, buildings have been destined for educational purposes and assistance services, as well as for the use of civil and military authorities and among them the hospitals of San Pedro, Belén, San Roque, San Juan de Letrán, San José, the Colleges of San Ildefonso and San Jerónimo, the Normal School of Teachers, the State Conservatory, the railway stations, the Penitentiary, the San Juan de Dios Prison, the Victory Market and the Forts of Loreto and Guadalupe.

The remaining 2,487 buildings are civil buildings for private use in which Mudejar influence is combined with Renaissance forms in various architectural elements, with manifestations of great personality emerging in the Baroque era, especially in the cladding of buildings and in ornamental details that define A true regional style.

These modalities are manifested until the end of the 19th century, integrating baroque and neoclassical elements with expressions of romanticism and the eclectic of the Porfirian era even though in many cases only colonial architectural structures were covered or adapted.

Representative architecture of Puebla

List of the most representative buildings, both religious and civil, of the different historical stages of the colonial architecture, of independent Mexico and prior to the Mexican Revolution that belong to the picture of the Historic Center of Puebla:

Civil Buildings

Old Tocinery
House of the China Poblana
House of the little heads
House of the Infants
Velázco House
House of the Presidio
House that killed the animal
Single house
House of Dr. Francisco Marín or Mechor de Covarrubias
Ex Convent of the clean Conception (Hotel Camino Real)
Inn of the Christ
Prophetic House of Reading

Public Buildings

Old Haro and Tamariz Maternity House
Old Pond of Pescaditos
Palafoxiana Library
Aguayo House
Agustín Arrieta House
Yellow house
La Palma House
Queen’s House
House of the Vaults
House of the Arches
House of the Canyons, Arronte Building
Sheriff’s House
House of Notaries of the State of Puebla
House of the Marquis
Portalillo del Alto House
Munuera House
Presno House
Rabid House
House of Obraje de Puig
Conservatory of Music of the State of Puebla
Protocol Building
Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Building
Carolino Building
Puebla State Congress Building
Former Cloister of the Convent of San Francisco
Former College of San Francisco Javier
Former College of San Ignacio
Former College of San Ildefonso
Former College of San Juan
Former College of San Pantaleón
Former College of San Pedro
Former San Pedro College
Former Seminary College of San Jerónimo
Former Hospital and College of Children Expósito de San Cristóbal
Former Episcopal Palace
Washrooms of Almoloya
La Victoria Market
Alfeñique House
Dean’s House
José Luis Bello y Zetina Museum
Amparo museum
Museum of Religious Art of the former Convent of Santa Monica
San Pedro Museum of Art (formerly Royal Hospital of San Pedro)
Museum of Nonintervention, Forts of Loreto and Guadalupe
Museum of the Mexican Revolution, Casa de Aquiles Serdán
Former Convent Museum of Santa Rosa
National Museum of the Mexican Railways
Regional Museum
University Museum, House of the Count of Castelo or House of the Dolls
City Hall
Patio de los Azulejos former Exercise House
Main Theater

Historical heritage rescued by BUAP

The Benemérita Autonomous University of Puebla for more than 4 decades has made efforts to preserve buildings that integrate the wealth of the heritage of the historic center of Puebla.

From the first years of the seventies and until 2002 the University had 23 buildings in the historic center and by 2013 it already had 34. Many were in ruins when it was acquired and are currently used for their schools and administrative offices.