Puebla: Mexico's City of Angels

Founded by the Spanish in 1531 as Ciudad de los Angeles (City of Angels), Puebla is one of Mexico's most historic cities. It is also one of the country's most photogenic. Blue, white, red, green, and yellow Talavera tiles that originated in Talavera, Spain, adorn the domes of Puebla's many handsome churches and the facades of its dignified colonial mansions and palaces. Over the centuries, indigenous craftsmen have added their own designs to Puebla's dazzling tiles and famous Talavera pottery. Also, the French occupied Puebla during part of the 19th century, leaving their indelible mark on the city's architecture and culture. The Historic Center of Puebla was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987.

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Puebla, Mexico - Images by John Mitchell

Paricutin Volcano, Michoacan, Mexico

Volcan Paricutin was born in 1943 with a series of explosions in the middle of a farmer's cornfield. The volcano continued to erupt for almost a decade, building a cone over 400 meters high and inundating two nearby towns with lava. Today, the lone steeple of the half-buried Church of San Juan Parangaricutiro rises above barren lava fields as an eerie monument to the village entombed below.

Travelers hike to this surreal landscape from the Tarascan community of Angahuan, which was spared by the volcano. The inhabitants of Angahuan still speak Purepecha, the ancient language of their ancestors, and many of the men work as guides. Angahuan is a rustic town with a 16th-century church known for the unusual Moorish designs surrounding its entrance.

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Paricutin Volcano, Mexico - Images by John Mitchell