Plaza San Francisco forms the entrance from the central Zocalo Square of the city to the former franciscan monastery. Both sides along the square smaller shops in colourfull buildings can be found. On the left the much larger Zocalo (also Plaza Principal) can be seen, on the right the stairways lead to the area of the monastery. The Monastery of San Miguel Arcángel was founded by franciscans in the early 16th century, soon after the spanish invaded the country. As one of the Monasteries on the slopes of Popocatépetl it is a UNESCO world heritage site since 1994.
Huejotzingo is situated about 25 km northwest of the modern day metropolis Puebla. In pre-hispanic time, when Puebla had not existed yet, it was the capital of the regional Huexotzinca, which were in changing cooperation or rivalry with the neighboring Tlaxcallan and Cholollan, as well as the Aztecs. The Huexotzinca, like the Tlaxcallan, were one of the view remaining regional opponents of the Aztec empire and cooperated with the spanish conquistadors.
