How the architecture of the Panama-California Exposition,
which influenced the appearance of all California, flowed from designs
of famed buildings in historic Spain, Mexico and Italy

A distinct characteristic of the exposition were the many little and colorfully tiled domes, towers and turrets, some completely Moorish in style, which rose against the sky above so many of the buildings. The top photo shows a typical tower of the building facing on the main Plaza, on the southwest corner, and which was in use a half century later, even though the tower long since had vanished. Below is a similar tower of Puebla, Mexico, on the Church of the Nuns, St. Catherine. Its yellow, green and blue tiles have excited anyone who ever visited Puebla. The dome, it has been written, was the obsession and also the masterwork of the Puebla architect.