Source: Photograph by WTL© (2009) on site in Cholula, Puebla, México.
Image: A panoramic view of the great modern Mexican city of Puebla seen from the top of the former Great Pyramid of Cholula. Puebla is 8 miles from Cholula.
Comments: The buildings in the lower foreground right belong to San Andrés Cholula; Puebla is the vast metropolitan area in the middle distance. The hill in Puebla toward the left, which is topped by a couple of radio towers is the hill where Mexicans fought heroically on May 5, 1862 in a stunning victory against an invading French imperial army; i.e., the site of Cinco de Mayo, Mexico's so-called second independence day, which commemorates the Battle of Puebla. The city was founded in 1531 as La Puebla de los Ángeles. As you can deduce it was an early Spanish colonial city, but, unlike other cities founded by the Spanish conquistadors in the first decades of the conquest, it was not founded on the ruins of a conquered native city. Cholula had a population of over 100,000 Cholulans; therefore, Puebla was a neighboring colonial city built from the ground up by Spanish design. In the early 21st century the city's population is over 1,500,000. In the 17th century, Puebla was home to the Bishop of Puebla, who was so influential in the life and death of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz; indeed, she lived in Puebla for a time.
Humanities Topic: The towns that cluster around the Great Pyramid of Cholula today act as proud centers in their own right, but they also function as suburbs or commuter bedroom communities for the mega-city of Puebla. Compare and contrast the relationship between these two cities with the relationship between Tenochtitlán and Mexico City.