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.