Puebla Cathedral

Construction began in 1575 under Philip II and stretched across the reigns of three Spanish monarchs before Bishop Juan de Palafox y Mendoza revived the project in 1640. The Herrerian‑style edifice presents a rectangular plan with five naves – a central nave that rises above the side aisles, creating a pyramidal silhouette that admits natural light. Its Renaissance façade rises from a spacious atrium, and the adjoining Mitra offices and the Ochavo chapel complete the complex.

Inside, the cathedral functions as a museum of New Spanish art, housing paintings, sculptures, goldsmithing and fine carpentry. Visitors encounter large boarded doors, an altar richly adorned with gold‑thread embroidery, and a sacristy filled with chalices, ciboria, reliquaries and jeweled crosses. The historical archive preserves documents dating from the city’s founding, offering a tangible link to Puebla’s colonial past. The combination of its unprecedented height and its early consecration makes Puebla Cathedral a singular landmark of colonial architecture.