It’s easy to pass an afternoon reading or just people-watching in Tlaxcala’s shady, spacious zócalo . The 16th-century Palacio Municipal , a former grain storehouse, and the Palacio de Gobierno occupy most of its north side. Inside the latter there are vivid murals of Tlaxcala’s history by Desiderio Hernández Xochitiotzin. Off the zócalo's northwest corner is the orange-stucco and blue-tile Parroquia de San José . As elsewhere in the centro histórico, bilingual signs explain the significance of the church and its many fountains.
The 16th-century building on the plaza’s northwest side is the Palacio de Justicia , the former Capilla Real de Indios, built for the use of indigenous nobles. The handsome mortar bas-reliefs around its doorway include the seal of Castilla y León and a two-headed eagle, symbol of the Hapsburg monarchs who ruled Spain in the 16th and 17th centuries.
