The city of Puebla, formally Heroica Puebla de Zaragoza, is the seat of the Municipality of Puebla, the capital of the state of Puebla, and one of the five most important Spanish colonial cities in Mexico. Being a colonial era planned city, it is located to the east of Mexico City and west of Mexico’s main Atlantic port, Veracruz, on the main route between the two in Central Mexico.
The city was founded in 1531 in an area called Cuetlaxcoapan, which means “where serpents change their skin”, in between of 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 to 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.
