Day 47 Tuesday June 11, 2013

I arrived in Puebla yesterday. It was a short ride from Tlaxcala....less that two hours. After finding the Centro Historia I parked along side the main plaza and started exploring. After looking around for a few hours I started hotel hunting. When I first arrived I did not know what to expect. This is the fifth large city in Mexico and the largest that I have visited on this adventure. Puebla has a population of 1.5 million people. I have a nice hotel about six blocks from the plaza....it is comfortable, clean and is at a good price.

These are photos of the The Cathedral of Puebla. The exterior of the cathedral not spectacular, but inside it is out of this world. On January 24, 1557 authorization was given for construction of the church. The design was submitted to the Dean and Cathedral Chapter on November 11, 1557. Construction began in November of 1575, under the direction of architect Francisco Becerra and Juan de Cigorondo. Construction was interrupted in 1626 but in 1634 Juan Gómez de Trasmonte modified the design and construction began again in 1640 when Bishop Juan de Palafox was ordered by King Philip III to complete the building. It was largely completed eight years later and on April 18, 1649, the Cathedral was consecrated toVirgin Mary.



This is the cathedral from across the plaza.

I did not understand the layout of the interior of the church, it was very different from any other church that I have seen. The interior of the cathedral contains many artistic artefacts that are found in its 14 lateral chapels and the altar mayor. Its principal altar is referred to as "The Major Altar", or "The Altar of the Kings", which was designed by Manuel Tolsa and built between 1797 and 1818. Some bishops of Puebla are buried under it. Across most of the rear wall of the cathedral is a Blessed Sacrament chapel. The inside of the dome of the apse chapel was painted with The Assumption of the Virgin by Cristóbal de Villalpando.

This is the Blessed Sacrament chapel at the rear of the church were two of the former bishops are buried in front of this alter.