This national Mexican holiday is called «May Fifth» (Spanish). Cinco de mayo) in honor of an important historical event: On May 5, 1862, 4,000 Mexican soldiers defeated the French army at the Battle of Pueblo.
This is the day when the monarchical regime of Napoleon III, nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte, and the Mexican Conservative Party «Club de Notables, which lasted 3 years (1864-1867), was overthrown.
At the site of the battle today there is a park with a statue of General Ignacio Zaragoza sitting on horseback. One of the fortresses has been transformed into a military museum, in which you can see a huge model reproducing the events of that day. The holiday is also widely celebrated in America (especially in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas).
Victory Day at Pueblo is also sometimes referred to as the Mexican counterpart of St. Patrick's Day. On this day, preference is given everywhere to Mexican cuisine, national music and dance, and major festivals and carnivals are organized. In some areas, the celebration may last throughout the week!
The city, famous for its military victory, is also famous as the birthplace of mole sauce. The sauce can be sweet or spicy, and the ingredients may vary, but chili peppers are always present.
There is a legend according to which this sauce was first prepared by the nuns of one parish especially for visiting authorities. But since the women did not know which dish would be worthy of important guests, they pulled out of the closet and mixed everything in a large vat that they could find — only about 30 ingredients! All this was cooked for several days, and the result was a sweet and thick sauce, which was served with turkey. Since then, everyone who has tried mole sauce says nuns — are the best culinary specialists in Mexico.