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Puebla was founded in 1531 as a planned Spanish city, deliberately sited on a plain between Veracruz and Mexico City where no indigenous settlement existed, which was unusual and strategic. It grew into one of the wealthiest cities in New Spain, and the wealth shows: the cathedral on the zocalo was under construction for nearly a century and its twin towers are the tallest in Mexico. The entire historic center is UNESCO-listed and its 2,600 pre-Hispanic and colonial buildings make it one of the best-preserved baroque cities in the Americas, dressed in the distinctive Talavera-glazed tile work brought by Dominican monks from 16th-century Spain and then transformed into something entirely Mexican by local potters.

The Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862, is where Mexican forces under General Ignacio Zaragoza defeated a better-equipped French army, which the French were certain was impossible.

France eventually took the city anyway and occupied Mexico City, but the date entered history as Cinco de Mayo, now celebrated with more fervor in the United States than in Mexico, where it is largely a regional holiday. In Puebla itself it is celebrated with military parades and genuine historical pride rather than margarita specials.