PUEBLA, Mexico (originally called La Puebla de los Angeles, more recently Puebla de Zaragoza), capital of the state of the same name, 116 miles east of the City of Mexico by the Mexican Railway, but only about 60 miles in a straight line; altitude over 7,000 feet above the sea. The climate is most agreeable, the maximum temperature being 84° in summer and 75° in winter. The peaks Popocatepetl and Ixtaccihuatl are only about 25 miles dis tant and those of Orizaba and Malinche are in plain view. Three steam railways,— the Mexi can, the Mexican Southern and the Inter Oceanic and electric street railways supply transportation. Straw hats, leather goods and numerous other articles are manufactured in considerable quantities, and in the immediate vicinity are several large cotton mills. Near by are the famous onyx quarries which have for many years supplied great quantities of beauti ful onyx to Mexico and the United States. A manufactory in the city makes of the product of these quarries and endless variety of useful or ornamental objects, from store and saloon fixtures, table tops and wash basins to imita tions of every fruit known in the country. The banking facilities of the city are supplied by the Oriental Bank, with $8,000,000 capital, and a number of other financial institutions. The city is noted for its many churches, clean streets, substantial business edifices and grand cathedral, which was almost 100 years (1552 1649) in building, is 323 feet long, 101 feet wide and 80 feet from floor to roof.
The educational institutions besides the primary and high schools are the State College, School of Medicine, Normal School for Men, Normal School for Women, Normal School of Arts, Academy of Fine Arts and hospicio for the education of children. There are three pub lic libraries, museum of archeology, an art gal lery, an observatory, a market hall, sulphur baths, a general hospital, founded in 1658, and a maternity hospital, state hospital for both sexes, hospital for the insane, children's hos pital, military hospital, Interoceanic Railway Hospital and Spanish Beneficiary Hospital.
The palace of the state government, which faces the principal part or zocolo, is one of the notable buildings of the city. The extensive and very beautiful Alameda is a most attractive spot and contains a monument erected in 1898 in honor of Mexico's liberators, and the monu ment to Gen. Nicolas Bravo. There are also the French-Mexican monument erected by the French colony in 1902, and the equestrienne statue of General Zaragoza, which surmounts a fine monument erected at the foot of the hill of Guadalupe. In the Government Palace is a most interesting collection of historic paintings and a library of 28,000 volumes. The zocolo or central park of the city is artistically laid out in vine and foliage covered walks, with foun tains and statues here and there, and numerous small plazas supply needed breathing spots. There are three theatres, one of which, the aTeatro Principal," was built in 1790 and claims to be the oldest theatre on the American con tinent. Since 1532, in which year the royal sanction was given to form a settlement here, Puebla has occupied second place among all the cities of the land, commercially, spiritually and in, population, until very recently, when Guada lajara forged ahead in population and material development generally.
The city of Puebla was founded in 1532 by the Franciscans, and is considered the military key to the capital of the republic. During the war between Mexico and the United States it was captured by Gen. Winfield Scott, who made his headquarters there from June to August 1847. It was captured by the French in 1863 and recovered by the Republican forces under Gen. (later President) Porfirio Diaz, in 1867. Tradition asserts that when Cortez came he found a city of 300,000 inhabitants, 400 temples and a legion of priests, six miles distant from Puebla, where now is the famous Pyramid of Cholula; and that the Aztecs came there in great numbers to worship and offer up human sacrifices. Pop. about 96,121. Con sult Carrion, A., 'Historia de la Ciudad de la Puebla de los Angeles (Puebla de Zaragoza)) (2 vols., Puebla 1897).