Patzcuaro: doorway to heaven

Patzcuaro is a medieval gem. Having whetted our appetites for Spanish colonial cities on our recent exploration of Morelia, we recently journeyed to Patzcuaro. Our Canadian friends, Gerry and Helen Green, joined us on the trip. They are the couple with whom we previously explored the ruins at Mezcala Island (see January 08 posting). Patzcuaro means “city of stones” in the native Purepecha language and it was believed by Purepechan inhabitants to be the doorway to heaven from which the gods ascended and descended.

On the road again! (L. to R.- Carole, Helen, Jim, Gerry). Gerry and Helen were about to return to Canada for several months, but wanted to show us Patzcuaro and the many small villages around the lake just to the north of the city. Gerry volunteered to drive his roomy, high-clearance 4-wheel-drive and we split the gas and tolls (about ½ tank of gas and $10 tolls each way). You really don’t need an off-road-capable vehicle to visit the Patzcuaro area, but his car is roomier than my Toyota Corolla for a long drive and is less susceptible to topes, Mexico's notorious speed bumps.

A high-speed cuota, or toll road, stretches almost all the way from Lake Chapala to Patzcuaro. The toll roads in Mexico are excellent, smooth, and well designed. Feeling adventurous, we decided to take a short-cut on the free roads part way to Patzcuaro to cut some time off our trip and see some of the back country to the north of Lake Patzcuaro. I felt OK about this because Gerry is such an experienced hand at driving in Mexico.

Patzcuaro origins. Although Patzcuaro and Morelia are both Spanish colonial cities, they are very different. Morelia is about ten times larger, and the architecture feels more stately and formal. Patzcuaro is considerably older, originating from settlements by the Purepechan Indios when they arrived in the area around 1324 AD. By contrast, the area around Morelia was very lightly inhabited when the Spanish decided to plant a city there in 1540 AD.

Patzcuaro sits on a hillside south of the lake. Architecture in Patzcuaro is very consistent. Most of the buildings are one or two stories. The bottom half of the exterior walls will be rust red, with the top half in white. Roofs are of red tiles.The streets are narrow, winding, and hilly. Since Patzcuaro is at 7130 ft. (2200 meters) there were plenty of forests for wood to cut gorgeous doors, windows, balconies, pillars, corbels, and rafters.

San Rafael Hotel through columns. We checked into the Posada San Rafael, a hotel fronting on the main Plaza Quiroga. We chose the San Rafael because of its central location and its price, only about $40.00US/night for a double room with bath and cable TV. The hotel is beautifully remodeled from the original colonial mansion. The rooms are large and the beds huge, although the mattresses are typically a little too firm for my taste. We could get English-language news on TV from BBC and some movie channels in English. We have also grown fond of the Spanish language channels, especially when the big muscular guys wearing full leather head masks show up, gesticulating wildly and sometimes inexplicably pummeling each other. It’s so much fun speculating, we don’t really want to ask anyone what it all means.

Early morning at Plaza Vasco de Quiroga. The plaza is large, full of trees, grass and fountains. Hotels, stores, and restaurants set out tables under the covered portales surrounding it. People watching is superb.

Catching up on the news with a cuppa joe. In the early morning, workers are out sweeping the sidewalks and setting up tables. As joggers pass by on the Plaza walkways, some folks just enjoy their coffee with the local newspaper.

Herb seller outside Our Lady of Health Basilica. By mid-day, commerce is in full swing with street vendors and shoppers. This woman is selling various herbs used for healing. She readily agreed to be photographed but reserved her smile until I had taken the shot. In the evenings, the young people show up for the live music in many establishments, or just to cruise and eye each other as they do world-wide. With all this activity on the street in front of the hotel, it was fortunate we got rooms in the back section.

Too late for Easter, too early for the cooking pot. Chicks dyed in bright colors explore their box as the seller dickers with passersby. The one on the right has a tiny baseball cap glued to its head.

Los Viejos. A pair of elderly shoppers chat in a busy market.

A study in lavender. Patzcuaro has a medieval feel, since the narrow, winding streets are not set in the more modern grid pattern. The worn stones in the streets and walls, covered with moss and stained with age, still carry the rough markings of the original stonecutters. One turns a corner and encounters Purepechans in their Indio clothing—not for the tourists, but just their daily wear.

An ancient activity. Around another corner, an encounter with two young boys carrying large hand-woven baskets of fresh-baked bread on their heads as their forebears did for centuries past.

Plaza Gertrudis Bocanegra & Library. There are several plazas in Patzcuaro, in addition to Plaza Quiroga. At the corner of Plaza Gertrudis is a library, converted from a convent.

History in paint. The Library contains an extraordinary mural by artist Juan O’Gorman. The mural covers one whole wall, floor to second-story ceiling, and tells the story of Patzcuaro from early pre-Hispanic times through the War for Independence. The scenes blend into one another with a series of vignettes showing early Purepechans in brilliant costumes, dramatic battle scenes, gory tortures, religious fervor, and much that I had difficulty deciphering.

The Purepechan Empire. While the Spanish, under Conquistador Nuno Guzman de Beltran, were particularly brutal and destructive, the Purepechas were no pacifists. The mural shows the conquest and enslavement of other populations by the Purepechas as they built their empire (see Morelia posting, March 08) and extended it as far north as the shores of Lake Chapala and south to the borders of the Aztec Empire in the Valley of Mexico. They also practiced human sacrifice, as did their chief ancestral foes, the Aztecs. The Purepechans came from the north of Mexico, according to their origin stories, and settled the area around Lake Patzcuaro in 1324 under a great leader named Rey Curateme. The area conquered by Rey Curteme was divided among his sons and relatives. Tzintzuntzan, just northeast of Patzcuaro on the lake, was the central political/ceremonial center. Today it is a small village of craftspeople overlooked by huge silent ruins brooding on a plateau with stunning views just outside of town.

Conquest of the Purepechan Empire. Guzman de Beltran (the bald man in armor on the left above), fearing he would be removed as Mexico’s Spanish Viceroy because of misrule, launched a conquest against the Purepechans who had previously refrained from interfering with the Spanish conquest of the Aztecs—the Purepechans’ arch rivals. Guzman de Beltran figured that if he could keep gold and silver flowing to the Spanish crown, other sins might be forgiven.

Spanish persuasion. The treatment of the Purepechans was so horrific that the Indios fled into the mountains. Eventually, the atrocities caused Guzman de Beltran’s removal and imprisonment in Spain.

A monumental change. A priest, Vasco de Quiroga, replaced the conquistador. The change was comparable to replacing Heinreich Himmler with Mahatma Gandhi. Vasco de Quiroga persuaded the Indios to come back from the mountains and set about creating a utopia, based upon the writings of Sir Thomas More, a contemporary. Quiroga set up schools and hospitals for the Indios, and taught them new methods of agriculture and animal husbandry. He also recognized that Purepechans were skilled artisans, already famous for their work in metals and wood. Quiroga persuaded the Indios to expand these activities and to add many new arts to their repertoire, with each village around Lake Patzcuaro specializing in particular crafts. This specialization persists to this day, nearly 500 years later, and we found wonderful craftsmanship in several of the villages we visited in the area.

Savior of the Indios. Vasco de Quiroga, whose statue graces the main plaza, was venerated by the Indios.

Basilica de Nuestra Senora de la Salud. Quiroga was also a great builder, and several of the most beautiful old buildings, including the Basilica of Our Lady of Health and the College of Saint Nicholas were built at his direction. Many of these beautiful old religious structures now serve other purposes. For example, the College of Saint Nicholas is now the Museum of Popular Arts and Archaeology.

Casa de los Onces Patios. The former Dominican monastery of Saint Catherine, built in 1757, is now known as the Casa de los Once Patios (House of the Eleven Patios). The Casa houses local artisans who allow you to watch them at work. Although I was intrigued by what I had heard of the Casa de los Once Patios, I did not actually locate it until the night before we left Patzcuaro. Out for a late evening walk, I turned a corner and suddenly recognized the Casa from an Internet photograph. I cursed my bad luck in finding it too late since it was too dark to take my own photographs. Then it occurred to me that the rising sun might catch the Casa just right for some wonderful early morning photographs before we had to leave the area. That is, it would if I could pry myself out of bed early enough. I decided to make the effort and since sunrise would be about 7:00 AM, it wouldn’t be that big a sacrifice for a morning slug like me.

Early morning sun bathes the Casa walls and domes. Fortified by strong coffee from an early-opening cafe on the Plaza, I stalked the Casa like a hunter stalks an animal in the woods, approaching from various angles and distances, gauging the direction of the early sun’s rays, and looking for interesting effects. I have never had any formal training in photography, but an early photographer friend once told me that the secret of taking a good picture is “take lots of pictures”. So I blazed away, as you can these days with a digital camera that uses no film and allows you to easily discard failed attempts at artistry.

Some of the villages we visited while still in the area included Santa Clara del Cobre, Isla Janitzio, and Tzintzuntzan. There are many others ringing the lake but we had time only for these. A return trip is definitely in the cards.

Copper pans for any purpose. Copper was mined in the area of Santa Clara del Cobre long before the Spanish came, but they expanded the mines and Purepechan craftspeople are still creating beautiful—and practical—goods for sale.

Helen hits copper jackpot. Helen had this visit on her list of priorities, and the drive up into the mountains south of Patzcuaro was lovely. We began to see crafts shops scattered through the outskirts of town, and when we parked and walked to the town plaza, we discovered that one whole side of the portales around the plaza was devoted to fine copper work.

Copper town plaza. In addition, the plaza lamp posts, the kiosco roof and railings, and hanging plant baskets along the portales all showed beautiful examples of worked copper.

We next visited Isla Janitzio, in the middle of Lake Patzcuaro. We had heard mixed reports from tourists about Janitzio. We decided to check it out anyway, as a way to see the lake from a different angle. Janitzio turned out to be a high point, literally as well as figuratively, of the whole trip. The Patzcuaro malecon, or waterfront, is several kilometers from the center of town. The malecon has restaurants and craft shops and, of course, the boats for the trip to the island. The boatmen belong to a cooperative which sets consistent prices (about $3.50US per person round trip) so you don’t have to bargain, and the boats seem to be in good condition and are equipped with lifejackets. The 20-minute trip (each way) was smooth and uneventful.

Aquatic commuters. Purepechans coming home to Janitzio after a day at the mainland markets filled most of our boat, which could hold about 80 people. On the way back, we and the handful of returning tourists had the boat mostly to ourselves.

Isla Janitzio at a distance. Janitzio is an almost perfect cone, undoubtedly volcanic, rising steeply from the water. An immense statue of Jose Maria Morelos y Pavon (see my March 2008 posting on Morelia) tops the island. It is visible from the mountains 20 miles away.

Janitzio, approaching the dock. The houses, stores, restaurants, hotels and other structures begin at the waterline and rise to the base of the Morelos statue. The narrow, twisting stone streets corkscrew up the island between multilevel buildings, with steep stairs connecting one level to the next.

Not a square inch wasted. As you climb higher and higher, great views emerge on all sides.

No cars needed here. Janitzio has the feel of a medieval Italian hill town, and is the most densely populated area in Michoacan State. There are no cars, and I saw no bicycles. Everyone simply walks around the small island. Fortunately, the narrowness of the streets provides plenty of shade from the intensity of the sun at 7100 feet in elevation.

Craft shops line the steep streets. As we climbed higher toward the Morelos statue, small shops about the size of a one-car garage offered a variety of products. Janitzio is not known for a particular craft, but seems to be the point at which all are sold. Carole was attracted by the lacy rebozos (shawls) and picked out one in a beautiful shade of lavender. We had seen rebozos of similar quality in the Ajijic shops for about $25.00US. The Purepecha shopkeeper, who was also the weaver of the garment Carole liked, wanted about $8.00US. We could have bargained for less, especially since it was a slow day on the island, but Carole felt it was a good enough deal and she liked that it was the woman’s own work. Everybody went away happy.

A view from the top. You can climb up the inside of the Morelos statue all the way to the upraised fist, and Gerry did, but I was content to roam around the base and photograph the stunning views in all directions. One restaurant owner, seeing me struggling to take a photo through a wire fence at the edge of the plateau, kindly waved me inside her restaurant so I could take the picture from her broad, open windows overhanging the ledge. She wanted nothing from me, only that I should get a good picture for my trouble. Her gesture was not unusual. We found people on our trip to be generous and helpful.

On our final morning, we decided to visit Tzintzuntzan, both for its crafts and to see the great ruins at the heart of the Purepechan Empire and the first seat of Spanish government in Michoacan. Tzintzuntzan is the wonderful Purepechan word meaning “place of the hummingbird”. The word actually sounds like a hummingbird zipping from flower to flower. The town itself lies in a narrow valley leading to the lake. Tzintzuntzan is known for basketry and straw crafts, carved wooden goods, green glazed pottery, and stone sculptures. The main street through the town has many shops, and the central plaza contained many stalls with beautiful crafts of various kinds.



Christmas decorations in April? Only in Mexico...

Sculptures in straw spin gently with the wind.

Ceramic figures resemble people seen on the streets every day.

Purple-blossomed jacarandas cast welcome shade over ancient plateau walls. Just outside the town is the turnoff to the ruins. From below, they look like the grey stone foundation of a major building under construction. As we wound up the hill, the real size of the ruins complex became clearer. The main structures sit on a man-made plateau 400 yards long and 180 yards deep, three sides of which are a high stone wall set in several steps taller than a six foot man. The long front wall of the plateau, overlooking the town and the lake and mountains in the distance, is at least 20 feet high.

Purepechan skill at stonework goes back many centuries. On top of this massive, level structure the actual temples and living quarters were built. The temple complex is a long rectangle, perhaps 250 yards long set back about 75 yards from the edge of the plateau wall.

Rounded temple bastion overlooking lake. The front of the rectangle has 5 huge semi-circular bastions set in regular intervals along its face. On top of the bastions were the temples and other structures for worship and administration. The bastions and the walls connecting them are 20-30 feet high. It’s hard to say exactly, because of all the rubble piled on top.

Ancient Purepechan "view property" on the edge of the plateau. Behind the temple complex are the foundations of palaces and storerooms and a round flat area set in patterned stone that looks like a large patio, possibly a ceremonial area. While we were wandering the area we were nearly alone. The solemn quiet of the place, broken only by the chirping of birds in the open grove of trees at one end of the rectangle, left a deep impression on all of us. From here, the elite classes of a powerful people exercised control over their empire and performed their religious ceremonies. Over 40,000 people lived in or around Tzintzuntzan when the Spanish arrived. Today, the population of the town is only about 1,000.

Modern Purepechan agricultural techniques reflect ancient ways. Just before we left, we noticed a fire on the hills at the back edge of the plateau. Apparently the Purepechans were utilizing slash and burn practices to clear land for agriculture. As the flames spread and leaped 20 feet in the air, we reflected that their ancestors, who arrived 650 years ago, probably used the same methods. This created a dramatic end to our visit to a lost civilization. But though their Empire may have vanished, the Purepechans are still here, creating beautiful crafts and quietly living their lives in Patzcuaro and the villages around the sparkling lake.

Morelia: a colonial city glowing in the sun

Cathedral towers and dome through the portales. Morelia! The name of the city is musical, like the tones of bells in the great Cathedral towers. The pink limestone of its ancient buildings glows in the afternoon sun. As one walks the streets, past centuries seem to come alive, even as the city traffic rumbles and young Morelianos zip by on jazzy scooters with cell phones to their ears. Carole and I were entranced.

Portrait of the founder. Antonio Virrey de Mendoza, whose portrait glowers from the lobby wall of the elegant old hotel bearing his name, founded the 457-year-old city in the Spanish colonial era. Virrey de Mendoza settled a handful of Spanish among the native Purepecha people and the Spaniards promptly misnamed them Tarascans. According to Miguel, our Charter Tour guide, “tarasque” is a disparaging Purepecha word meaning roughly “one who sleeps around”. The Purepecha had observed the Spanish custom of adultery, and so, when encountering Spaniards, they called out “tarasque!” The Spaniards, not understanding the rude joke, thought the natives were identifying themselves and so began calling them Tarascans.

The Purepecha were not primitive savages, but very advanced in the context of Indian cultures in the 16th Century. They were great artisans with jewelry and feathers and were considered the best metal workers in Mexico. They also built an empire that rivaled—and was never conquered by—the Aztecs, and that lasted over 600 years. Their capital of Tzintzuntzan, located southwest of Morelia near Patzcuaro, contained temples and pyramids. When the Spanish were marching on the Aztec capital, the Aztecs appealed to their old rivals for support. Unfortunately for native inhabitants of Mexico, the Purepecha not only ignored the appeal, but also sacrificed the messengers. Less than ten years after the Aztecs fell, the Purepecha Empire fell to the Spanish. For more information about the Purepecha/Tarascan Empire, click on this link. For information about ancient ruins in the Morelia area, click on this link.


Morelia was named for a hero. Modern Morelia, the capital of Michoacan State, is a city of over a million people, which sits on a mountain plateau at over 6000 feet. For map of Michoacan showing Morelia and other interesting locations nearby, click on this link. 45,000 students attend Morelia University, the oldest university in the Western Hemisphere. Morelia was originally named Vallodolid, after the city in Spain of the same name. One of the great early leaders of the Mexican War of Independence (1810-21) was Jose Maria Morelos, a priest turned general who was born in Vallodolid. He was captured and executed by the Spanish during the early stage of the war but, following independence, his contributions were recognized by renaming the city Morelia, “the place of Morelos”. For information about the War of Independence and Morelos, click on this link.

The great Cathedral of Morelia dominates the cityscape. Morelia is filled with museums, art galleries, music conservatories and theatres, many occupying one or another of the more than 1,100 historical buildings located within 290 blocks of the old section of the city. The people of Morelia had the foresight to stop the destruction of the old city before the forces of “modernization” had advanced too far. Today there are strict ordinances requiring that historical buildings be reconstructed in the original form and materials rather than razed for parking lots and strip malls, as is so common North of the Border. There are also stiff penalties against the graffiti although it still occurs in some places. Morelianos take great pride in their beautiful city and its designation as a World Heritage Site. For a map of El Centro de Morelia and some of its historical sites, click on this link. For an excellent walking tour guide to El Centro, click on this link.

Kiosco in Plaza de los Martirs. The center of most Mexican communities is the main plaza, and the center of the plaza is always the kiosco, or bandstand, surrounded with gardens and walkways radiating outward. In Morelia, the Plaza de Armas—also known as the Plaza de los Martirs—and its kiosco are particularly lovely, filled with shady trees and flowers. The kiosco is beautifully made with wrought iron and pine from forests in the mountains surrounding Morelia. The plaza is bounded by the great Cathedral, various government buildings, the Hotel Virrey de Mendoza, and the Hotel Alameda (where we stayed) and other hotels and restaurants. The three sides not bounded by the Cathedral have long lovely covered porches with stone arches called "portales" which separate the buildings from the street and create sheltered, shady areas for café tables and crafts displays.  I discovered why these portales are typical of Mexican plazas during our visit to Morelia. King Phillip II, the same man who ordered the Armada against England during the reign of Elizabeth I, ordered that this design of plaza, church, government buildings, and portales be incorporated into the design of all Mexican towns and cities. He particularly wanted the portales to be a sheltered area where local people could carry on commerce protected from the sun and rain. 400 years later, Mexicans in the smallest towns and largest cities still enjoy these products of King Phillip’s vision.

Morelia Cathedral side entrance and dome. Afternoon shadows gather on the glowing pink limestone and dome of the Cathedral, viewed from the plaza. It is difficult to photographically convey the size of the Cathedral because to do so requires a viewpoint too distant to show all the extraordinary details. One must show a section at a time to do it justice.

Massive door protects main Cathedral entrance. The door stands at least 20 feet tall, and is made from wood studded with decorative iron and brass fittings. All of the statues and forms of the face, towers and interior of the Cathedral have deep, complex and interwoven significance that goes far beyond my limited knowledge of Catholicism. Their beauty and symmetry impressed me nonetheless.

Cathedral interior. This photo gives some sense of the great height of the interior but does not capture the width, which extends a considerable distance on either side of the columns. What seemed odd, at first, was the juxtaposition of fervent worshipers moving their lips in silent prayer with large numbers of tourists, most of them Mexican, moving quietly about snapping pictures in every direction. I followed their lead and tried to get my shots without interfering with anyone’s religious experience. Fortunately, the ambient light was adequate to show the interior since flashes were not allowed.

An ancient religious treasure. The Morelia Cathedral contains many objects of great intrinsic as well as symbolic and artistic value. This Monstrance, used in the ceremony of bread and wine, was created several hundred years ago by Purepecha craftsmen from silver and gold mined in the area. Its glass case is surrounded with other objects of great craftsmanship and beauty.

Palace of Government—courtyard and portales. Across the street from the Cathedral stands the Palacio de Gobierno, the Government Palace. As with many colonial buildings, a central courtyard is surrounded by two or more floors with portales overlooking the courtyard. In government buildings, murals typically cover the walls behind the portales. The murals display events from Mexican history, or facets of Mexican rural life. World-famous artists such as Diego Rivera, Jose Clemente Orozco, or Alfredo Zulce painted many of these murals in the 1930’s. Zulce did much of the work in Morelia.

Zulce Mural shows key moments and figures of Mexican history. In this mural, painted at the head of a grand staircase in the Palacio de Gobierno, Zulce portrays (among others) Father Hidalgo with white hair and yellow boots, Morelos on his right wearing his signature red head scarf and carrying a sword and scroll, and an Indian with a torch and a flat stone slab tied to his back. Hidalgo, a Catholic priest, was the original leader of the Insurgency in 1810. Morelos succeeded him after his capture and execution by the Spanish. The Indian was famous for crawling forward under intense Spanish fire, protected by the stone slab, to ignite the explosives which opened the way into the city and allowed its capture. I was not clear whether the Indian survived the blast, but I doubt it. Nearly all the key figures in the mural were executed, assassinated, or killed in battle at one time or another. All this is part of Mexico’s dramatic but tragic history.

Campesino family. A Mexican farm family reaches out for help from the Revolution. Prior to the Revolution, campesinos were often little more than serfs on the large haciendas, many of which were broken up by the revolutionary government. In lower left foreground stand oil derricks. The Mexican oil industry, formerly controlled by U.S. and European financial interests, was nationalized by President Lazaro Cardenas in the late 1930s. The industry remains nationalized today; although there are currently efforts by the conservative PAN government to sell it off to Exxon, among others. It remains to be seen whether the PAN will succeed.

Portales form beautiful frames for murals. Another Zulce mural showing typical scenes in the rural life of campesinas and their children. The delicate pink limestone arches nicely frame mural scenes viewed from across the courtyard of the Palacio.

The Convento de las Rosas. Dominican nuns used this as a convent until 1735 when it became the Conservatorio de las Rosas, a music school and the home of the famous Morelia Boys Choir. It is the oldest music conservatory in the Western Hemisphere, 124 years older than any conservatory in the U.S. Pictured is the dome of the chapel. For more information on the Convento de las Rosas, click on this link.


Portales line the central courtyard garden. These cool walkways protected the nuns, as today they protect tourists and music students, from harsh sun and summer rains. The nuns lived in the rooms on the inside of the walkway.

Las Rosas garden. The convent's courtyard garden would be a splendid place to while away a bright, hot afternoon.

Courtyard fountain. In the Las Rosas garden, jacaranda flowers quietly drift down to float in the courtyard fountain. The purple color fitted perfectly, as purple is the color of Easter, the time of our visit.

Doing the wash the old fashioned way. In this 16th Century stone laundry room, nuns washed clothing and other items by hand.

To protect, or imprison? Since this Dominican convent was cloistered—the nuns almost never appeared in public—the convent used this screen at the back of the chapel as a barrier between the nun’s choir and the non-cloistered people at the services. Behind the screen was a curtain that further shielded the nuns. Another purpose for the screen, according to our tour guide Miguel, was to prevent the escape or rescue of young women confined in the convent because of inappropriate affections toward the wrong man.

Dressed to play. This young student of the Las Rosas Conservatory is dressed in period costume for a performance. She doesn’t look like any convent screen would hold her back from her chosen future.

Don't forget to look up. The Hotel Virrey de Mendoza stands on one corner of the Plaza de los Martirs. Old, elegant, quiet, with a huge central lobby, the hotel has an atrium rising three floors. The first couple of times I came in I liked the feel of the place but not until my third visit did I happen to glance up and nearly fell backward in astonishment at this spectacular stained glass ceiling at the top of the atrium. Probably 100 feet long by 50 feet wide, it is breath-taking. For more pictures and information about this beautiful (but expensive) old hotel, click on this link.

Aqueduct uses 2000 year old technology. Morelia’s graceful Aqueduct was built between 1785 and 1789 and for more than a century was the chief water supply for the city. The water rises from a spring and runs through the trough along the top of the Aqueduct for miles, propelled by gravity alone, much as the Romans had done 2000 years before. The Aqueduct feeds 14 of fountains across the Old City, some for people, some for animals, some for washing or other purposes. The people of Morelia are extremely proud and protective of their Aqueduct and anyone defacing it faces a year in a Mexican prison, not a happy fate. I saw very little graffiti on it.

Our Lady of Guadalupe, the church built as a compromise. The Virgin of Guadalupe has been the patron saint of Mexico’s downtrodden Indians since shortly after the Conquest. The religious artifacts related to her were taken to Mexico City, and Indians from all over Mexico therefore had to make long pilgrimages to visit them. This, of course, meant they were not back on the haciendas making money for the Spanish overlords. Spanish Catholic Church officials decided to build a special church for the Indians in Michoacan so they could worship the Virgin closer to home. The Purepecha craftsmen pitched in to create a remarkable edifice. Although the exterior is not particularly notable, the interior work gives it a just claim to be called the most beautiful church in Michoacan.

Our Lady of Guadalupe altar area. The ceiling and part of the altar area including the portrait of the Virgin of Guadalupe show the incredibly detailed work that went into every surface.

Religious vignette from ceiling. This circular vignette portrays a scene of religious significance. This is one of four differing scenes surrounding the great stained glass dome pictured below. This vignette could only be clearly seen with a telephoto lens from the floor of the church. It was amazing to me that so much work went into a detail like this that few people could ever fully appreciate.

Rich detail adorns church ceiling. The incredible richness of detail demonstrates not only the wonderful skill of the Purepecha craftmanship, but the deep feeling of the Indians for their patron saint at a time when they were severely oppressed by the Spanish overlords.

Our Lady of Guadalupe dome. The inside of the dome, directly over the altar area, is one of the most spectacular features, especially when seen in the dim light of the church. Notice the four religious vignettes, one of which was pictured earlier.

Street of Romance. This double fountain sits at the end of Romance Street. It is a tradition for young lovers to walk along narrow old Romance Street, barely wide enough for a single donkey cart, until they reach the fountain. Then, the young man kneels on the steps to present his beloved with a ring. The tradition began centuries ago and still carries on today. Unfortunately, the spray paint squad did not spare this charming corner of Morelia.

Mystery of the fountain of the Indian women. This fountain, near the end of the Morelia Aqueduct, depicts three kneeling, bare-breasted Indian women holding a large basket of fish aloft. When it was originally constructed, the church ladies of Morelia were scandalized, considering it pornographic. However, they couldn’t get the city fathers to respond to their protests. Accordingly, one dark night the fountain statues simply disappeared and to this day no one knows what happened to them. In the 1980s, Morelianos collected money door to door, raising enough to have the fountain rebuilt exactly as originally constructed. No further disappearances have been reported, and photos of the fountain have regularly graced Mexican and international publications about Morelia.

Monarchs cluster in masses on trees. Carole and I also came to the area to see the famous winter nesting grounds of the Monarch butterflies high in the mountains east of Morelia. These intrepid insects--"mariposas"--in Spanish, travel thousands of miles from Canada and the northern U.S. to Michoacan to nest and breed. They then die and their pupae become caterpillars and then butterflies and finally travel north to Canada again. When they nest in the remote Michoacan mountains, they gather in the millions, coating the trees and branches with as many as 4 million mariposas per acre, 250 million total. After mating, they die and their bodies cover the ground. One scientist worked for his entire 40-year career to discover their nesting location. He then helped the Purepechas understand the economic possibilities of ecotourism. For more information on the Monarch butterfly, click on this link.

Butterflies on her mind. With her father’s kind permission, this little Mexican girl posed with the Monarchs she had captured, using them to adorn her hair as well as her hand.

Racing for pesos. The Purepecha Indians quickly figured out that tired tourists, faced with a daunting climb back up the steep, dusty trail to the bus, would be grateful for a horse to ride. At 10,000+ feet of altitude, every step is an effort. The Indians pictured here are racing their horses back down to meet another group of tourists more than willing to pay the 50 peso fee (about $5.00 U.S.).

Jim, taking the easy way. I had been cocky on the way down, thinking my hikes in the mountains around Ajijic had prepared me to handle the trail. As you can see, I changed my mind.

Avenida Madero Oriente. As we prepared to leave Morelia, I took this shot from the third floor balcony of the Hotel Virrey de Mendoza down Avenida Madero Oriente toward the rough, high-desert mountains surrounding the city. Then, reluctantly, we boarded our bus and headed back to Ajijic. But we’ll be back!