Fuerte de Loreto

This hilltop fort on the northern edge of Puebla was one of the strongholds defended during the battle of 5 May 1862, when Mexican forces repelled a French army in an engagement now commemorated nationwide. The stout stone bastions and former chapel now house a museum of the intervention, displaying weapons, uniforms and documents from the conflict. Cannons still point outward from the ramparts, and the elevated position gives broad views across the city and toward the distant volcanoes. It anchors a civic park dedicated to the battle.