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Founding
Founding of Heroica Puebla de Zaragoza
capital of the State of Puebla, Mexico
- 16 April 1531
- Mesoamerica and the Caribbean
Founding
capital of the State of Puebla, Mexico
Fetching the article from Wikipedia…
Puebla de Zaragoza (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈpweβla] ⓘ; Nahuatl languages: Cuetlaxcoapan; Mezquital Otomi: Nde'ma), formally Heroica Puebla de Zaragoza, formerly Puebla de los Ángeles during colonial times, or known simply as Puebla, is the seat of Puebla Municipality. It is the capital and largest city of the state of Puebla, and the fourth-largest city in Mexico, after Mexico City, Monterrey, and Guadalajara. A planned city from the viceregal era, it is located in the southern part of Central Mexico on the main route between Mexico City and Mexico's main Atlantic port, Veracruz—about 100 km (62 mi) east southeast of Mexico City and about 220 km (140 mi) west of Veracruz.
The city was founded in 1531 in an area called Cuetlaxcoapan, which means "where serpents change their skin", between two of the main indigenous settlements at the time, Tlaxcala and Cholula. This valley was not populated in the 16th century, as in the pre-Hispanic period this area was primarily used for the "flower wars" between a number of populations. Due to its history and architectural styles ranging from Renaissance to Mexican Baroque, the city was named a World Heritage Site in 1987. The city is also famous for mole poblano, chiles en nogada and Talavera pottery. However, most of its economy is based on industry.
Being both the fourth-largest city in Mexico and the fourth-largest metropolitan area in Mexico, it has a current population of 3,344,000 people, and the city serves as one of the main hubs for eastern-central Mexico. Students from surrounding states attend its prestigious universities, such as BUAP, UDLAP, Ibero, among others. The city also excels in industry, having the world's largest Volkswagen factory outside Germany, located in the Municipality of Cuautlancingo and an Audi plant in San José Chiapa. As a result, many suppliers to Volkswagen and Audi assembly plants have opened factories in the metropolitan area of Puebla.
Some historians consider that the area where the city is located nowadays was not inhabited in the Pre-Columbian era, except in the 15th century, when this valley was set aside for use for the so-called Flower wars among the populations of Itzocan, Tepeaca, Huejotzingo, Texmelucan and Tlaxcala, with those soldiers captured being used as sacrifice victims.
The foundation of Puebla begins with a letter from the bishop of Tlaxcala in 1530, Julián Garcés, to the Spanish queen outlining the need for a Spanish settlement between Mexico City and the port of Veracruz. According to legend, the bishop had a dream about where to build the city. In this dream, he saw a valley with woods and meadows crossed by a clear river and dotted with fresh-water springs on fertile land. While he was contemplating this scenery, he supposedly saw a group of angels descend from heaven and trace out the city. Convinced he had seen a divine vision, he celebrated Mass, and took some of the brothers out in search of the place. Five leagues from the monastery he declared they had found the place shown in the dream. This legend is the source of Puebla's original name, Puebla de los Ángeles, and its current nickname Angelópolis (literally, City of Angels).
The city's coat of arms refers to a city (the castle with 5 towers) which is protected by angels; the letters K. V. refer to Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (Latin: Karolus V), also referred to as Charles I of Spain; below are 7 rivers which cross the city.
The city was founded in 1531 within the Valley of Cuetlaxcoapan as a Spanish city, not on the foundation of an existing indigenous city-state. The official date of foundation is 16 April 1531, however, this first attempt at settlement failed due to constant flooding of the site right next to the river. Several rivers flow through the Valley of Puebla, the San Francisco, Atoyac and the Alseseca. This valley was bordered by the indigenous city-states turned colonial towns of Cholula, Tlaxcala, Huejotzingo and Tepeaca, all of which had large indigenous populations. After the city's foundation, this valley became the main route between Mexico City and Veracruz, the port on the Caribbean coast and the connection to Spain.
Puebla was an important city and region in the history of New Spain, since it was in the center region of Spanish settlement, midway between the main port and the capital, had a large indigenous population, and drew many Spanish settlers. It supplied the capital with commercially grown agricultural products and became a center of local textile production. It was well connected to Mexico's North, particularly the silver-mining region around Zacatecas.
Most of the population moved away from the west bank of the San Francisco River to a higher site. A few families remained behind and renamed the original settlement Alto de San Francisco. The Spanish Crown supported the founding of Puebla as a city without encomiendas, as this system was being abused and a number of Spaniards were finding themselves landless. Puebla received its coat-of-arms in 1538, and the titles "Noble y Leal" (Noble and Loyal) in 1558, "Muy Noble y Leal Ciudad" (Very Noble and Loyal City) in 1561 and "Muy Noble y Muy Leal Ciudad" (Very Noble and Very Loyal City) in 1576.
The layout of the city is of classic Spanish design, centered on a main plaza, today called the Zócalo. This main plaza originally was rectangular, but later made square because the earlier version was considered to be ugly. Another major feature of the city were the weekly markets (tianguis), in which indigenous sellers would come with their wares and foodstuffs to sell to the population. By the mid-16th century, water was brought in to the main plaza to a newly installed fountain. By the end of the century, the city occupied 120 blocks, much of which was under construction, with the new Cathedral begun in 1575. During the Union of Spain and Portugal (1580–1640), the city developed a sizeable Portuguese community. Trade ties with Portugal and a growing economy made the city an entrepôt for the transatlantic slave trade during the early 1600s.
Puebla's favorable climate and strategic location helped the city to prosper, quickly becoming the second most important city in New Spain. Juan Gutiérrez de Padilla, the preeminent 17th-century composer in the New World, spent most of his life at the cathedral, from about 1620 to 1664.
The city council of Puebla, being made up of only Spaniards, had a certain amount of autonomy in the politics of the city and the land under its jurisdiction. This council annexed the towns of Amozoc, Totimehuacán, and Cuautinchán to its territory in 1755. By 1786, Puebla's lands reached from what is now Veracruz to Guerrero states. The city continued to grow and be more regulated during the 17th and 18th centuries. A new city hall was built in 1714 and the tianguis in the main plaza was replaced by wood stalls by the 1770s. The streets were paved with stone between 1786 and 1811.
Commercial activity was dislodged from the main plaza completely by the early 19th century and placed in the San Francisco Parian market. Other plazas, such as the San Luis, San Antonio, El Carmen, La Concordia and Santa Inés were built. The main plaza underwent several transformations, adding statues and gardens. During the Mexican War of Independence, Puebla's main role was the printing and distribution of the plan for independence. In 1827, after Independence, all Spaniards (peninsulares) were expelled from the city's lands.
In 1847, the city was taken by U.S. forces under General Winfield Scott, without a shot fired. The American garrison was besieged in the city from 14 September – 12 October 1847 by the irregular forces of General Joaquín Rea and later reinforced by Antonio López de Santa Anna. The siege was broken by the force of General Joseph Lane that fought its way from Veracruz into the city after defeating Santa Ana in the Battle of Huamantla on 9 October 1847. Puebla was then the base for General Lane's campaign against General Rea and the other guerrillas that harassed the U. S. Army line of communications. These forces left in July 1848 after the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was ratified.
During the French intervention in Mexico on 5 May 1862 in the Battle of Puebla, defending Mexican forces under Ignacio Zaragoza defeated the French army under Count de Lorencez. The city's name was changed to Puebla de Zaragoza in 1862, by a decree issued by Benito Juárez and the holiday "5 de Mayo" (Cinco de Mayo) is a major annual event here. The city was attacked again by the French in 1863, who succeeded in taking it. French forces left in 1866 and reconstruction began in 1867.
During the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, Puebla remained important culturally and economically. It had a thriving textile industry at this time. Immigration from Europe was encouraged and people from Spain, Italy, Germany, France and Lebanon came to live in the city.
In what became a precursor to the Mexican Revolution, siblings Carmen, Máximo y Aquiles Serdán were behind one of the first conspiracies against the Porfirio Diaz government. Their plans were discovered and their house, located on 6 Oriente street was surrounded by federal troops. A gun battle ensued, killing both Serdán brothers on 18 November 1910. During the Mexican Revolution, the city was taken by forces under General Pablo Gonzalez Garza, then later was under Zapatista control.
From 1931 until the end of the 20th century, growth of the city spurred the absorption of the municipalities of Ignacio Mariscal, San Felipe Hueyotlipan, Resurreccion, San Jeronimo Caleras, San Miguel Canoa and San Francisco Totimehuacán into the city. In 1950, by decree of the state congress, the city received the title of Heroica Puebla de Zaragoza. In 1977, the federal government declared the city a Zone of Historical Monuments. In 1987, the historic centre of Puebla was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
The City of Puebla submitted its candidacy to hold the headquarters of the Free Trade Area of the Americas, and briefly served as interim secretariat headquarters until negotiations were stopped in 2005.
The municipality is located in the west-central region of the State of Puebla, bordering the municipalities of Santo Domingo Huehutlán, San Andrés Cholula, Teopantlán, Amozoc, Cuauthinchán, Tzicatlacoyan, Cuautlancingo, and Ocoyucan, and the State of Tlaxcala.
As municipal seat, the city of Puebla is the government for 482 other communities with a total area of 534.32 km2. However, 94% of the municipality's population of 1,485,941 lives in the city proper.
Most of the municipality has been deforested, including the lower portions of the Malinche volcano and all the Sierra de Amozoc, due to logging and seasonal farming.
The Sierra del Tentzon and higher elevations of Malinche volcano still conserve the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt pine-oak forests ecoregion – with forests of pine, holm oak and other tree species. In the pine forests, Montezuma Pine (Pinus montezumae) is generally predominant, with Hartweg's Pine (Pinus hartwegii) and Pinus teocote in dry areas with shallow soils. Pine-fir forests are composed almost entirely of Hartweg's Pine (Pinus hartwegii) and Sacred Fir (Abies religiosa).
Animal life consists mostly of small mammals such as rabbits and skunks, as well as birds such as owls, buzzards and wild waterfowl.
Puebla is located at the Valley of Puebla also known as the Valley of Cuetlaxcoapan, a large valley surrounded on four sides by the mountains and volcanoes of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt. It is located 40 kilometres (25 miles) east of the Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl volcanoes, giving residents views of their snow-topped peaks. Due to the proximity to the Popocatépetl, Puebla is sometimes exposed to the ash and dust that emanate from the volcano during its active periods, the most recent occurring on 19 May 2023.
La Malinche dormant volcano is located to the north of the city, and the Pico de Orizaba to the east. Hydrologically, the city is part of the Atoyac river basin; the river runs through northern, eastern and southern portions of the municipality, and connects to the Lake of Valsequillo, where the Manuel Ávila Camacho dam has been built. Other rivers that cross the area are the Alseseca and San Francisco.
Under the Köppen climate classification (Köppen: Cwb), Puebla features a subtropical highland climate, due to its tropical location but high altitude of around 2,100 m (6,889.76 ft). In Mexico, the official designation is "subhumid temperate climate with summer rains". It rarely gets truly hot in Puebla, with an average of only three days seeing temperatures rise above 29 °C (84 °F). Night temperatures are cool at all times of the year. Puebla experiences dry, temperate winter months (mid-October through February), warm springs (March to mid-May), and a monsoon season from mid-May to mid-October.
The historical and cultural value of Puebla's architecture is a major reason the city was chosen as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In addition, UNESCO recognizes Puebla as a "Design City". Various architectural styles and techniques such as Baroque, Renaissance and Classic are represented here in over 5,000 buildings in the city. The historic centre is filled with churches, monasteries, mansions and the like, mostly done in gray cantera stone, red brick and decorated with multicolored tiles. Puebla is also considered to be the "cradle of Mexican Baroque" both in architecture and in the decorative arts, and one of the five most important colonial cities in Mexico.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Puebla (city)”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.