![dek](https://content.time.com/time/asia/magazine/2007/1126/tga_lapurificadora_1126.jpg)
Architect Ricardo Legorreta has created a striking interface between the contemporary and the colonial
With its red-hot cinema, culinary culture and contemporary art scene, Mexico City is North America's capital of cool. But spare a thought for the colonial-era towns in the vicinity of the world's second largest metropolis. Chief among them is Puebla, two hours southeast of the capital. Set in a valley and ringed by a series of volcanoes including the 14,636-ft (4,461-m) Malinche Puebla was founded in 1531 along an important pre-Columbian trade route. This helped Puebla prosper during Spanish rule, resulting in one of the most elaborate and colorful town squares, or zócalo, in the New World, with High...