- Our Michoacan adventure begins — Tlalpujahua and the Las Dos Estrellas Mine
- Butterflies — on the road to Morelia
- Morelia
- Capula, Santa Fe de la Laguna, Quiroga, and Tzintzuntzan
- Pátzcuaro and Janitzio
- Tocuaro, Santa Clara del Cobre, and Cuanajo — visiting the artists in their communities
While the first part of our trip involved long drives between locations, for the next few days we will spend our time around Lake Patzcuaro, visiting the city of Patzcuaro and the towns that surround it. That is really for two reasons: to visit some of the lands of the Purépecha (or Tarascan) people, and indigenous people centered in the northwestern Michoacan; and, thanks to the efforts of Bishop Don Vasco de Quiroga, fostered the development of a unique set of arts and crafts within the Purépecha people that continue to flourish to this very day.
Our first stop was in the town of Capula — the heart of Catrinas and the Day of the Dead. A Catrin is loosely translated as a “dandy” (an elegant, well-dressed man). A Catrina is thus his female counterpart. They are always elegantly dressed with hats, boas, etc. During the 1870s, however, a graphic artist named Jose Guadalupe Posada produced some political cartoons that made fun of these new rich people (and often corrupt) people by depicting them as skeletons to depict what he felt were their hollow lifestyles and lack of morality. His political cartoons were published widely in Mexico, especially to critique the president at the time (Diaz) and his supporters. Later painter Diego Rivera would paint a Catrina (along with himself, Posada, and Frida Kahlo) in one of his famous murals. Another artist, Juan Torres, moved from Morelia to Capula and saw the potential in having the town start creating Catrinas out of clay (the town already had a history of producing ceramic objects decorated with paint). Well, his idea worked out amazingly well. Today nearly the entire town is engaged in making Catrinas. We actually visited Torres’ compound where we met his daughter and toured the various studios, galleries, and outdoor sculpture there. While he is tied closely to the Catrina, his art really goes way beyond in different styles and media. What is less clear is how the Catrinas were tied to the Day of the Dead celebrations since they really have nothing to do with each other. Despite that, the town created a Catrina Festival that takes place the weekend before Dia de Muertos and somehow the connection is made. What started as a day where families visited and cared for the graves of their loved ones has now evolved into a cultural phenomenon where the Catrina has taken on a prominent role. And Capula became one of the first towns to promote this annual event.
From there we went to the little town of Santa Fe de la Laguna to meet ceramic artists Nicolas Fabián and his wife Maria del Rosario Lucas. Driving through the town really conjured up an image of what life was like in a somewhat poor, simple village in Mexico. Donkeys still deliver wood to heat homes, cook food in traditional ways and, in the case of Nicolas and Maria, fire their wooden kiln. Most of the dwellings here are made of simple adobe brick and the people (especially the old abuelas (grandmothers) wander the streets in traditional dress. I guess others saw this old traditional view of Santa Fe de la Laguna because Disney used it as a location shoot (photography in this case) to assists the animators for the movie Coco. Anyway, we visited with Nicolas and Maria in their simple home and looked at all the works they produce. Most of their work involves animals in some fashion and all are handbuilt. They mine and mix their own clay and make extensive use of Sgraffito, a technique of scratching images on their pieces. In addition to her work as a sculptor, Maria has also won many awards for her traditional style of cooking. We ended up buying a few pieces and all of the talk of food led us to our next destination.
We then made our way to the town of Quiroga to try their world famous carnitas. They are slow-cooked in large metal boilers, using a mixture of lard, seasonings, and high-quality pork. The combination of the juicy and crunchy textures is to die for! I suspect one of the reasons that the Quiroga carnitas are so highly regarded is the respect that the locals have for tradition. The recipes and method of preparation have been passed down from generation to generation and the pride that they take in their food is evident. We started with a sample, then bought a quarter kilo, and then a second! Yum!
From there, we traveled to the shores of Lake Patzcuaro to visit Tzintzuntzan (which translates to the “place of the hummingbirds”), the former capital of the Tarascan state until it was conquered by the Spanish in the 1520s. We were here to visit the archeological site of Tzintzuntzan as well as the former monastery complex of San Francisco (are you getting the sense that the Franciscans had a big influence in this area?). The Purépecha people first arrived in this area in the 12th century and through the 14th century dominated the region with Tzintzuntzan as its capital. They were actually able to hold off invasions of the Aztecs (and, in fact, caused heavy losses to the Aztecs’ professional army). They remained undefeated until the Spanish arrived when they were conquered and the last Emperor (Tanganxoán II) executed. After suffering at the hands of a brutal Spanish leader (Guzman), Bishop Quiroga was put in place who brought the local people religion, assistance, and education. He also moved the capital to Patzcuaro. We visited the archeological site that is on a hill that overlooks the modern town and Lake Patzcuaro. The things to see here are the yacatas that are five, semi-circular pyramids that face out over the lake. But these turned out to be bases for wooden temples that would have been built on top of them. This is where important religious and governmental rituals would have been performed when the city was at its peak of 25,000 people who would have lived around the the temple complex.
Alongside the lake in the modern town is the former monastery complex of San Francisco that was founded in the 16th century. It includes the Churches of San Francisco and La Soledad. Much of the building material for these churches came from the yacatas that the Spanish destroyed during their conquest. It also has an open chapel that was used to perform religious ceremonies for the indigenous people since they weren’t allowed in the church. In fact, this was the site of the first Mass to be celebrated in Michoacan. In the Church of La Soledad was the “Santo Entierro that is a wax figure of Christ displayed in a glass coffin. Local folklore has it that the arms and legs of the statue are growing and, in fact, the coffin has an extension added for the feet. Within the cloister, there were a series of murals from different eras. While they can’t bring them back to their original state, they are working hard to preserve them. What’s really great about this place is that they have founded a school to teach young unemployed people the skills necessary to perform restoration projects..
Tonight we arrived in Patzcuaro, where we will spend the next few days.
This entry was posted in Mexico, Michoacan, Travel
I am a traveler and sometimes clay sculptor, following a long career working in consulting. My work allowed me to travel the world extensively and I was hooked. Today, I travel with my wife/best friend to explore new places, meet new people, and learn new things.
