Lugares para visitar en Pátzcuaro y sus alrededores

An introduction to the Purépecha culture before making a visit to Pátzcuaro is something that we recommend to our guests at Hotel Mansion Iturbe . Recent disclosures about Angamuco, a former Purépecha city located near Lake Pátzcuaro (between the year 1000 and 1350), reveal that it had a similar number of buildings that Manhattan has, in an area of 26 square kilometers.  This only increases our desire for more knowledge about the ancient Purépecha culture . Lake Patzcuaro, Michoacan, Mexico So you can have a deeper experience in the region of the Lake Pátzcuaro , give yourself time to learn more about our history and understand more about the Purépecha culture , a culture that is still very much alive; you can feel it in their festivals, crafts, music, folklore, and gastronomy. Here we share some of the documents that today are at our disposal to try to understand a little more about this extraordinary culture, a fundamental pillar of Michoacán identity. Th...

The work of Don Vasco de Quiroga five centuries ago still amazes visitors to Pátzcuaro .  He was the great benefactor of the Purépecha indigenous people. A renaissance man with innovative ideas, he delivered justice to indigenous peoples who had suffered abysmal abuses and humiliations.  He implemented a community development program, leaving a great cultural legacy, which can be traced by following “The Route of Don Vasco.” Don Vasco de Quiroga Square in Pátzcuaro, Michoacán Pátzcuaro is one of the primary stops on Don Vasco's Route . The main square that bears his name is considered to be one of the most beautiful in Latin America; at the center of the square you will find a statue in his honor, which is located opposite our Hotel Mansion Iturbe. You can use Pátzcuaro as the point of departure along the route, along which you can learn about the great work undertaken by this great humanist. You will be surprised by the different cultural manifest...

            Centuries ago, corn was – and continues to be today – the main food staple of Mexico .  But the Purépechas found a surprising, secondary use for this otherwise innocent plant:  They used it, combining it with various other local “ingredients,” in creating figures.  The Purépechas called the resulting substance “J’ATZINGUENI” – a legacy of the Purépechas to the world.  The Spanish themselves came to appreciate this “new” artistic medium. It was a custom of the mesoamericans to carry images of their gods into war; they believed the presence of the heavy and bulky figures would increase their chances of success on the battlefield.  Typically, it was the principal god who accompanied them to infuse the warriors with valor and courage.  Furthermore, they also believed that if they were defeated and the figures ended up in the hands of the victorious, the idols would wreak revenge upon them e...

Many of our guests at Hotel Mansión Iturbe ask us, “What’s beyond what we see in Pátzuaro?  What is the history of the Purépechas (indigenous)?  How did they live?  What were their customs?”  “[f. 39v]  Montezuma sent ten ambassadors from Mexico to meet the supreme governor Zuangua [in Ihuatzio or Tzintzuntzan].   But the ambassadors were detained on the way [by an official] at Taximaroa [at the border between what is now the State of Mexico and the State of Michoacán].  The official in Taximaroa asked the ambassadors what they wanted.  They said they wished to meet with Zuangua.  The official at Taximaroa sent a representative to the supreme governor Zuangua, who sent the ambassador back to Taximaroa with instructions to treat the ambassadors well, and allow them to proceed safely.”  (Excerpt from La Relación de Michoacán) La Relación de Michoacán is a critical part of the history of the pre-colombian latinoamericans. Alt...