Puebla’s City Hall Altar de Muertos

Every year, Puebla’s City Hall sets an enormous Altar de Muertos in its main patio to celebrate Dia de Muertos. They always find a theme close to everybody, whether you’re a kid, an adult, a woman or a men. Last year I loved what they did, they set an Altar for all the classic Mexican toys children used to play with, and that now have been replaced by video games, cell phones and watching tv.

Last Year's City Hall's Altar

This year, since we’re celebrating 100 years of the Mexican Revolution, the City Hall’s Altar was dedicated to the Serdán Siblings. Aquiles, Maximo, Carmen and Natalia Serdán were the initiators of the Revolution in Puebla. Aquiles was appointed by Francisco Madero (the national leader of the movement) to lead the revolt in Puebla. But the Governor found out, and on November 18th, 1910 dozens of cops forced into the Serdán Family’s house and assassinated him. Two days later, on November 20th, 1910, the Revolution began. The Serdán Brothers, specially Aquiles and Carmen, who fought the armed cops for hours, are considered the first heroes of the Revolution.

The Altar to the Serdán Brothers commemorates the times of the Revolution, with figures dressed with beginning-of-the-20th-century fashion dresses, some revolutionaries calacas (the colloquial Mexican name for skeleton) and even a China Poblana figure. It’s a very Mexican setting, with flags, the national symbol, and green, white and red perforated paper.

Serdan Brothers' Altar

It’s a fun, historical, beautiful and important Altar. The figures makes you stare for hours, discovering new details and new calacas you didn’t’ saw a minute ago. If you pay attention you’ll find the calaca of a dog, a baby and even the devil himself. A bride, a groom, and a dancer. A skeleton riding a bike and another one riding a horse. A woman with a fan and a man eating a piece of bread. The list is enormous, the Altar is beautiful and the City Hall’s Main Patio is never as alive as these days, when it’s the main site where the people who are long gone are remember.

Serdan Brothers' Altar

[photos courtesy of Vica Amuchastegui]