Historic Murals

You can learn about Tetela’s history by looking at the murals that adorn the side walls of the Palacio Municipal, or City Hall. There are two in the Assembly Hall: one looks like a codex and explains how the town was created. The other depicts the Battle of Puebla in high relief. However, it’s the mural on the arches of the Palacio Municipal that give a more dramatic account of the details of that glorious episode when the Tetelenses and other citizens of the highlands defeated the French. In it appear the figures of Benito Juárez, Ignacio Zaragoza, and Melchor Ocampo. There’s also “Los Tres Juanes” (The Three Juans), with their somber countenances and that dignified air that only the defense of sovereignty affords. Titled Fecha inmortal (Immortal Date), it’s the work of Sergio Ávalos, the artist who worked on the construction of the monument honoring the Sixth Battalion of the National Guard of the State of Puebla, located in the main square. In the monument’s central body you can read the harangue attributed to General Ignacio Zaragoza, before the May 5, 1862, battle. It’s crowned by a Republic Eagle. There are six steles with different allegories showing key episodes in the French Intervention.

Don’t miss the murals titled Identidad (Identity) and Centenario (Centennial) at Paso de Carranza. The former is found on Veinte de Noviembre Street and sums up what makes Tetela proud: strength and resistance. The latter, located at Siete Poniente Street, tells of the arrival of then General Venustiano Carranza to these highlands.