Influence of During the Spanish colonial period there were, in New Spain, two centres of art influence, Puebla and the capital. The former was more directly affected by the spirit of Andalusia and the Moors. Cholula, a suburb of the present city, had been a great centre of art and of building activity prior to the Conquest, and its artisans were noted throughout the Aztec empire. So the Anda lusians, who settled in the valley of Puebla, found cunning workmen there to help build up the semi-Spanish, semi-Moorish industries they began establishing in the country. Excel lent beds of clay in the neighborhood helped the work along; and Cholula continued, after the Conquest, the industries the skilled Toltecs had established there before the Normans had thought of invading England. Tile-making, polished marbles and onyx, handsome pottery and clay figures instinct with life and depict ing the national became characteristic Puebla products. This industry had a strong influence upon the architecture of the city and the surrounding country. Buildings with great Moorish courtyards and exterior and interior decorations in ornate• Moresque tile patterns began to make their appearance in Cholula al most immediately after the Conquest and, on the founding of Puebla, the centre of this in fluence shifted gradually to the new city. Puebla at once began to reflect the thought and manner of life of Seville with which it kept ever in close touch. Cholula became a
place of Moorish domes elaborately decorated with tiles. To-day the little town is exhibited as a curiosity to the tourist as much on account of its all-prevailing church domes as its famous pyramid. Towers, interiors, altars and the hitherto undecorated bulk of great buildings were covered with tiles. Private residences and government edifices followed the fashion and Puebla came to reflect more and more the in fluence of Seville and of Moorish Spain. As Puebla was the one great town on the high road between the capital and Vera Cruz, it be came an important distributing point; and this helped to extend her Moorish influence. Even in the capital this influence is seen in existing buildings and many others of the same style have disappeared. The famous Jockey Club of Mexico City, completely covered with bluish tile, reflects strongly this Puebla style. Some of the Churrigueresque churches, whose ornate exteriors are set against a background of Puebla tile, present a gorgeous and fascinating appearance; but in many others the employment of the Mexican Moresque is not so fortunate, for it was not always applied in good taste. Consult Wilcox, M., 'Certain Phases of Span ish Colonial (Architectural Rec ord, June 1915).