Fuerte de Loreto y Guadalupe (Museo de la No Intervención)

The Fuerte de Loreto y Guadalupe complex sits atop the Cerro de Guadalupe overlooking Puebla de Zaragoza and consists of two fortified positions originally built around existing religious structures in the 19th century as Mexico fortified the city against foreign intervention. It was here, on May 5, 1862, that a Mexican force of roughly 4,500 men under General Ignacio Zaragoza defeated a numerically superior and better-equipped French expeditionary army attempting to take the city, a victory now commemorated annually as Cinco de Mayo. The Fuerte de Loreto today houses the Museo de la No Intervención, whose exhibits trace 19th-century Mexican military history through original artillery pieces, uniforms, and battle maps, organized chronologically from the Reform Wars through the French Intervention and the eventual French withdrawal in 1867. Fort walls, ramparts, and gun emplacements from the period remain largely intact, and visitors can walk the same defensive perimeter used during the battle. The adjacent Fuerte de Guadalupe, built around an earlier 1809 chapel, sustained heavy damage during the 1862 battle and remains partially in ruins, preserved as a stabilized archaeological structure rather than reconstructed to its original form. INAH manages ongoing conservation of both forts, with recent restoration work focused on masonry stabilization of the Guadalupe ruins and roof repairs to the Loreto museum building, while a large annual reenactment of the battle is staged on the surrounding hillside each May 5th.