A cool, souvenir market in Puebla!
This market is across the street from the Barrio de Artistas, a few blocks from the Zocalo. It's a touristy market, with lots of the mass produced types of art that you'd expect to see in an outdoor mercado. Lots of pottery, textiles, jewelry and stuff to hang on your shelves when you get home. This isn't really a place where the locals hang out. But if you're from out of town, and are looking for something relatively inexpensive to take home with you, this is the place.
There's scores of little shops that may or may not be independently run. They sell a lot of the same stuff, with some differences between them. There's some that specialize just in ceramics, some in just silver jewelry, and some in just textiles, but there's not a whole lot of differences between them. The prices are all pretty similar- since the shop keepers all seem to know each other, there's not a lot of room for haggling to try to tell them that the other shop keeper is selling it for cheaper.
The market consists of a few rows of small shops, each one the size of a small garage, packed to the hilt with hand crafts that are made elsewhere in Puebla. The prices are cheap, but they are cheaper if you buy them from a street vendor. However, the selection here is the best you're going to find in Puebla- with so many options to shop at, they're sure to have what you're looking for.
While here, be sure to check out the public works of art- a giant sun painted in the middle of the floor, a statue of who I believe to be San Francisco, and a big picture frame to stand in for a selfie.
There's restrooms in the mercado, which are relatively clean. This place feels very safe, as it's one of the main tourist areas for Puebla, and there is a healthy police presence. There's also food vendors who hang out here and sell light snacks, which is quite appreciated. read more
