Saturday, July 16, 2011

Old Ruins

I am sure not everyone shares my love of architecture, and might not been as excited as I was to get to go here and see this place. Honestly I missed the explanation because I was exploring, so I am not sure what significance it held or its name.








So this picture is just for fun. Several of my classmates were all gathered around the founders grave listening to the story of his life. There was a slight drizzle and I couldn't help myself from taking the picture, because the atmosphere was something you would find in the movies.








Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Tlaxcala

A modern town rich in history and art, found an hour or so north of Puebla and, apparently, 12477K from Beijing
There are a lot of awesome things to see, but even without them it was just a beautiful place.

It was a great mixture of land formations and architecture.
Historical peppering the colorful.

Our first stop was the government building. If you think it is nice on the outside,
You should step in to see the murals.
They are set up to tell a story... First they discover corn
Then they learn to make products with more than just the corn.
Soon trade is established.
Then Cortez shows up and is mistaken for Quetzalcoatl.
Then the Spanish dominate.
The over time and laws later, the Republic of Mexico was born.
Here is reportedly the first Catholic Church in the Americas
Kinda dark, but you can see the gold.
Here is the first baptismal fount, the sign says conversions started here, with the first indigenous people joining the Catholic Church.
Some Franciscans came and built the bell tower. Not connected to the church but still in the court yard.


The indigenous weren't allowed into the church so the Franciscans also built open chapels, like this one just outside the church court yard, so they could here.I am told the architecture is very specific to the Franciscans.
They also used to have a school to learn how to fight bulls.
There is a lot of art which we saw in the museum.
Here is the representation of the masks they wore at carnival. Each was hand made.
http://drawinglove381.blogspot.com/2011/03/huejotzingo-carnival-fat-tuesday.html
They had a few people making textiles.
Here is one of the rugs they weaved.
Franciscans also taught the indigenous pottery here first. Later it made its way to Puebla.
So all and all it was a great trip. There was more to see and do, but the rain came and it was time to head back to Puebla.