Brick and Talavera, façades of Alfenique, rich baroque designs, moorish and Andalusian -- even the neglected stops the traveler for reflection.

Puebla is the Talavera jewel of Mexico. If one could slice Puebla's colonial center into a baker's dozen, the result would be 12 additional world-class eye-catching architectural beauties.

Brick and Talavera, façades of Alfenique, rich baroque designs, moorish and Andalusian -- even the neglected stops the traveler for reflection.

Puebla is located on a flat plain. It was a planned city, a grid oriented to the cardinal points. The cathedral buttresses the south side on the city plaza, but the front faces west.

The morning and evening sun, and seasons, set off and highlight the beautiful, intricate designs and reflect on the Talavera tiles and create contrasts with the matte brickwork.

Daily, monthly, annually, shadows and sunlight take the old and make it fresh, like twirling a kaleidoscope prism.

It always strikes me as ironic that what is truly beautiful in Mexico is mixed with a legacy of controversy: the Spanish dons, the Catholic clergy and Porfirio Díaz.

This story is from my Forty Days in Mexico.
The previous story in the series is Mescal Highway.
The next story in the series is Cinco de Mayo in Puebla.