México - A Possibly Hidden Kingdom

 June 28-30

Hello everyone!

Mexico City is a huge place with a lot to do. There is more to this country than its capital, however, and my first weekend in the ‘Land of Mariachi’ (other nicknames are available) was spent in a different state: Michoacán.

A copper Day of the Dead statue

Lake Patzcuaro

Of the 31 states which make up Mexico (the city itself is gargantuan enough to be its own entity), Michi is not one which many would visit. It has a bit of a reputation. Having noticed over the years what makes news with certain organisations, I am aware that there are many other sides to stories and places. I also wouldn’t be there alone, as I was visiting two friends from my time working in Malawi.

Patzcuaro is a little more than 4 hours west of Mexico City on a bus

Waiting for our tortas de carnitas: essentially, a large pork sandwich

Actually not entirely true, what I just said above. Quite a lot of people do visit. Just not that many extranjeros: foreigners. A lot of Mexicans will visit this area, specifically the stunning Lake Pátzcuaro, at a certain time of the year: Day of the Dead. The lake, which contains five islands, has long been known for being a ‘pilgrimage’ site for Day of the Dead - hotels booked up to a year in advance.

Lake Pátzcuaro is shrinking due to intensive avocado farming nearby - the state provides a high percentage of American avocados

This statue, on one of the islands in the lake, is a big attraction

Quite a lot of people used to visit in days gone by, as well. Specifically, those pesky Spanish conquistadors. You’ll hear a lot more about them in future blogs, I’m sure. The town where I was staying, named Pátzcuaro after that lake, was brutally conquered by a Spaniard called Guzman, which led to many locals fleeing to the surrounding hills. He actually got sent home by the Spanish, who were apparently mortified at his treatment of…well, everyone.

A view of the town with those hills in the distance

The Church of Humiliation, named after the
treatment of a Purépechan leader by the Spanish

The next Spaniard to lead the region, Vasco de Quiroga, created new trading towns around the lake, encouraging the indigenous down to the lakeshore once again. The one we visited on the Sunday afternoon, Santa Clara del Cobre, was famous - and still is - for its copper.

There were many settlements around the lake

The town has an annual copper competition

These indigenous people I am referring to were the Purépecha. I was aware that there was more to pre-Hispanic history in this part of the world than Aztecs and Mayans - but had no further knowledge. Visiting what could be described as a hidden kingdom was therefore an excellent education.

Depictions of the Purépecha sent back to the Spanish

They actually didn’t even work with the Aztecs when the Spanish arrived - I’d say this didn’t help them in the long run

At various points around the lake, there is evidence of large settlements with what would have been spectacular buildings. The most visible is the brilliantly named Tzintzuntzan. Silent T’s all the way. You can clearly still see significant remnants of five yacata - pyramids - on this large, flattened area of land. The fact that it is above the land below, probably historically using a ramp to connect higher and lower planes, made it reminiscent of a British castle.

This was the Purepecha capital when the Spaniards arrived in 1522

I think these were at least 10 metres high

Ruins, a lovely lake: why aren’t more people adding this charming town to their visiting list? Partly this is because it is the ‘wrong direction’ - Mexico’s hotpots are its capital and the southeastern coastline containing Cancun and Playa Del Carmen. But another idea might be that there isn’t as much to see as you might expect…because some of it is hidden…

This is actually a different lake: Lake Zirahuen

Pretty cobbled streets of Pátzcuaro

This is particularly true of Pátzcuaro. The idea of it being hidden comes from many ideas which are too complex to explain in a blog like this. Essentially, it’s known that Pátzcuaro was a capital in the empire of the Purépecha, has evidence of pre-Hispanic markings which have been discovered in walls, and that no one has found the yacata step pyramids in Pátzcuaro which have been found in the two other major settlements of Tzintzuntzan and Ihuatzio.

A wall in one of the museums has pre-Hispanic petroglyphs

Rumour is that the cathedral is built over one of the pyramids 

What you see instead are things such as the second largest town square in the country...

Unusually for plazas in the Americas, this doesn't have a large religious
building looing large over it. Instead it was a police crane...

...an incredible mural by an Irish-Mexican in what is now a library...

The library is a converted church

The mural tells the timeline from Purepecha to the modern day.
A lot of the Spanish era is quite...negative...

...and filthy cheap yet delicious tacos. Well, most of them. Tripe tacos can stay on the shelf in the future.

Less than a dollar per taco in a main square

I'll stick to steak or pastor in the future!

The country wants to get more foreigners to visit these slightly off-the-beaten-track locations. If a place fulfils the criteria, it gets dubbed a ‘pueblo magico’: magic towns. These are places that the government feels have ‘magical’ qualities. You could argue, much like El Salvador’s different ‘routes’, that it is a contrived tourist invention. However you feel, there were 177 of them in the country as of August 2023. 

The ruins at Tzintuntzan are definitely magical

Wildlife can also add magic: this might be a golondrina

Apart from a minor hiccup of the bus getting stuck and left stationary behind a four-car accident for over four hours, resulting in my returning to my hostel in Mexico City after 2am, it was a flawlessly fun excursion out of the big city.

Many cars turned their engines and lights
off due to the length of the delay

And then had to check in...

The warm hospitality of Mark and Andrea definitely helped, of course, but lovely Lake Pátzcuaro is simply a gem from all angles. As for the city itself…who knows what lies beneath?

Love you all,

Matt