Lavaderos de Almoloya, Public washing place in Puebla City, Mexico
The Lavaderos de Almoloya is a colonial public washing facility with roughly 90 stone basins arranged around a central fountain. The structure sits near the San Francisco River and was designed to serve the washing needs of residents for many years.
The facility was built in 1704 and remained in active use for over 200 years until the San Francisco River was channeled underground in the early 1900s. The river's redirection ended the need for this washing center.
Women from the neighborhood gathered here regularly to wash clothes and share news with one another. This was where the social life of colonial Puebla played out in the open air.
The washing stations are easy to reach on foot and can be viewed up close throughout the day. Visit during quieter hours to better observe the stone work and understand how the water system functioned.
Underground tunnels run beneath the washing stations, carrying water from the San Francisco Convent. These channels reveal how sophisticated the city's colonial water system was.
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