Mexico Travel: Discoveries
in Tzintzuntzan, Janitzio and Lake Pátzcuaro
After our interesting visit in Quiroga, a colourful
market town less than half an hour from Morelia,
we had now arrived in Tzintzuntzan, literally translated
“the place of the hummingbird”. This
historic town is the location of an important archeological
site with a ceremonial centre on the side of a hill
overlooking Lake Pátzcuaro. We stopped downtown
at the market where typical local handicrafts were
for sale. Characteristically coloured green local
pottery, handmade straw decorations, scarves and
many other traditional hand-made items make this
a popular destination for many Mexican tourists.
The typical green pottery of Tzintzuntzan
Rodrigo explained that the typical green and brown
pottery from Tzintzuntzan is great for cooking and
his grandmother and mother have used these clay
pots for generations. Little baby fish called “charales”
were on sale in little paper bags. Typical Mexican
spicy tamarind jelly was also available. Long straw
chains in different colours were reminiscent of
Christmas garlands. Native women were selling a
variety of medicinal herbs and incense, and the
market was a bustling centre of activity.
Religious items made of straw
From the market we entered the Monastery of San
Francisco which was founded in the 16th century.
Construction originally started in 1830 and now
includes the church of “Nuestro Señor
del Rescate” (our Lord of Rescue) where a
mass was being celebrated. Around the corner is
the Church of La Soledad whose main highlight is
the “Santo Entierro” (holy burial),
a wax figure of Jesus Christ that is displayed in
a glass coffin. Locals believe that the arms and
legs of this statue are still growing. The entire
church was colourfully decorated for carnival and
church goers were receiving an individual blessing
after kneeling down in front of the altar.
The Church of La Soledad in Tzintzuntzan
On our way out of town we stopped at the cemetery.
Throughout my travels I have found that cemeteries
are always a unique expression of the art and mentality
of a region, so I stopped to take some pictures
of the ornately decorated graves. Our drive continued
through a beautiful mountainous landscape. As we
got closer to Lake Pátzcuaro, Rodrigo explained
that due to agricultural activity, the lake’s
water level has dropped a lot. Many of the green
areas surrounding the lake were formerly covered
by water.
The cemetery of Tzintzuntzan
We parked on the lakeshore and strolled through
a small market area to the docks where the local
ferries depart for Janitzio Island. Many people
were enjoying picnics on the grassy strip of land
that was leading up to the ferry docks. Local vendors
came walking through the boat to sell peanuts and
home-made potato chips. On this day, I was entirely
surrounded by local people and did not see any foreign
tourists in the crowd.
The ferry dock to Janitzio
The boat departed from the mainland and it took
about 25 minutes to reach the island through brown
and muddy waters. The island of Janitzio rises up
like a perfect rounded cone from the water and its
most well-known crowning icon, the 40 metre high
statue of José Maria Morelos, can be seen
from far away.
The island of Janitzio
We disembarked and started our ascent on the steep
walkways of Janitzio. There is no road traffic on
this island, and the narrow streets are flanked
by street vendors selling local art and souvenirs
and restaurants offering traditional fare. At the
top of the island is its most famous attraction:
a monumental stone statue of Mexico’s independence
hero José Maria Morelos. The statue was begun
in 1930 and stands guard over the island.
The steep walkways of Janitzio
For a small fee we entered the statue and walked
up along a circular walkway, admiring the murals
by Ramon Alba de la Canal, one of Mexico’s
important muralists. The images depict scenes from
the life of Morelos and officially no photography
is allowed. At the top, the walkway got even narrower
as we entered the outstretched arm of the statue.
At its peak is a small area with open windows that
allow you to see the entire lake and its surroundings
from this elevated vantage point. People have to
wait to get up into the outstretched fist of the
statue because it can only hold 5 or so people at
a time.
View from the outstretched fist of the Morelos statue
in Janitzio
As we walked back down, Rodrigo mentioned that
Lake Pátzcuaro has five islands of which Janitzio
is the most well-known. In front of the statue is
a large square surrounded by some retail stalls.
On this open space there was a group of local dancers
wearing old men’s masks. According to my guide
Rodrigo, these masks were worn by indigenous people
to mock the Spaniards as the Spanish conquerors
seemed to get old quickly in their Mexican surroundings.
Local women from the Purepecha tribe in Janitzio
Now in the late afternoon we started to make our
way back through the busy alleyways of Janitzio
and back on to one of the ferry boats. After a brief
drive we arrived at our last destination of the
day: the town of Pátzcuaro, a city of about 80,000
people that is the capital of the municipality.
The town was founded around 1320 by the Purepechan
tribe and it later became an important ceremonial
centre. After the arrival of the Spanish, Vasco
de Quiroga, the first bishop of Michoacán,
intended to make the town the capital of the New
Spain province, but this was later moved to Valladolid,
today’s Morelia.
Arrival in the harbour of Pátzcuaro
Pátzcuaro still has a very strong colonial character
with its historic arcaded buildings that surround
the large Plaza Vasco de Quiroga. The main square
was currently under construction to restore the
old design. Based on its important history and its
outstanding collection of colonial architecture,
Pátzcuaro is one of Mexico’s “Pueblo
Magicos” (magic villages), a special designation
that is awarded by the Mexican Secretariat of Tourism.
One of Pátzcuaro's old churches
It was now the late afternoon and we went into an
restaurant on the main square where I got to enjoy
one of my favourite Mexican dishes: “Sopa
Tarasca”, a tasty tomato and bean torilla
soup. Afterwards Rodgrio recommended that I try
“uchepos”, which was composed of very
sweet corn-based dough shaped like a cabbage roll
that is eaten with cheese and cream. After our filling
dinner we walked around the main square where I
admired the arcaded walkways in front of the colonial
buildings. Most of them housed restaurants or retail
stores.
"Uchepos", sweet rolls of corn dough
It was getting chilly now as we were walking up
the hill towards the “Basilica de Nuestra
Señora de la Salud” (Our Lady of Health).
From 1554 onwards, this church was built by Vasco
de Quiroga over an ancient pre-Hispanic ceremonial
site. Originally the Franciscan monks and the Purepecha
tribe had an agreement that the Spanish conquerors
were allowed to build Roman-Catholic churches while
they would respect the natives’ ceremonial
sites. Vasco de Quiroga broke with this tradition
and insisted that there should only be one church
and constructed the building right on top of a Purepecha
ceremonial site.
The Cathedral of Pátzcuaro was supposed to be much
bigger than this
The bishop also had very grand plans: he wanted
to build a church with five naves, which would have
been a huge undertaking. His grandiose plans never
came to fruition: only one tower was ever finished.
Inside the church is a corn-stalk paste statue of
“Our Lady of Health” and the tomb of
Bishop Vasco de Quiroga.
Interior of the Cathedral of Pátzcuaro
Outside the church is another market where locals
are selling handicrafts, clothing and herbs. The
façade of today’s basilica dates from
the late 19th century and its flat roof is decorated
to look like a vault. The large organ was built
in Germany during the 1800s. From the church we
started walking towards the former Dominican Monastery
and steps away we stopped at the “Casa de
los Once Patios” (House of the Eleven Courtyards),
which was built in 1742 for an order of Dominican
nuns.
The Casa de los Once Patios - only five courtyards
are left
Today there are only five courtyards left and the
building itself was restored and turned into a local
artists’ center. It was now very late on a
Sunday afternoon and most of the workshops were
closed, but Rodrigo managed to find two that were
open. A husband-and-wife team were still working
away on their projects. The husband produces huge
wooden plates and corn-stalk paste statues while
his wife creates intricately patterned gold-leaf
designs. I was awed by the amazingly symmetrical
free-hand designs that the lady was producing without
any prior sketches. Rodrigo added that she has the
pattern only in her head and invents the details
as she completes the project.
Intricate gold leaf art created in Pátzcuaro
The sun was now setting and it was getting rather
cool. We started our return trip to Morelia but
unfortunately we got caught in a traffic jam that
added almost an hour to our originally short trip.
When I got back to my hotel I enjoyed the hot shower
and my comfortable room with my satellite television
and my high-speed Internet connection. It allowed
me to unwind after a long day of sightseeing and
to get ready for my last full day in Mexico where
I would have a chance to explore another interesting
area near the city of Morelia: Lake Cuitzeo.
The Cathedral of Morelia, viewed from the rooftop
of my hotel, the Hotel Catedral
