Under three hours’ drive from SMA is a town that many say resembles our city twenty years ago. Patzcuaro is one of 132 pueblo magico towns in Mexico, with low buildings, many churches, and a central garden-like plaza with a fountain, surrounded by two to three story buildings that create an arcade all around.
Patzcuaro is one of the oldest, whether measured by its pre or post vice regal age and the buildings show their age much more conspicuously than those of SMA. It’s quite evident that restoration is needed in many before they completely fall apart.
One reason why our buildings have been restored is due to the efforts of Sanmiguelenses in the 1930s and beyond, but especially because of our status as a Heritage of Humanity, declared as such by UNESCO in 2008. As an interesting aside, I found out that at the time we were requesting the Heritage site designation, there were many other Mexican cities that hoped to get it, and Patzcuaro was one of them. We were granted the designation, and the others are still hoping to get it. The money that is provided by UNESCO has helped preserve the historical center of San Miguel in a beautiful time bubble.
Patzcuaro was the center of the Purepecha Empire which covered most of present day Michoacán, Guerrero, Jalisco, and parts of Guanajuato, and developed unique cultural traits distinct from other Mesoamerican groups, particularly metallurgy. The Purepecha Empire dates back to the early 14th century; contemporary and an enemy of the Aztec Empire, but never conquered by the latter. After the Spanish vanquished the Aztec Empire, they went after the Purepecha leader whom they tortured and executed in 1530, causing the common people to flee.
For the next decade the Spanish installed a series of Purepecha puppet rulers, until the arrival of Bishop Vasco de Quiroga who began to institute positive measures. He founded the cathedral and Seminary of San Nicolas in Patzcuaro, but his greatest contribution was his vision for the inhabitants of the region, and its successful implementation. Using Thomas More’s Utopia as a model, he taught the natives the fundamentals of self-government, working and contributing equally toward the common welfare. He promoted different industries for each town so each would become a center for that particular craft. He was respected and beloved by the natives and became known as Tata Vasco—Father Vasco.
Vasco de Quiroga’s legacy has been preserved for 500 years, where even at present there are several small towns that produce unique products. Paracho, for example, makes guitars, while Tzintzuntzan is known for its pottery, Santa Clara for its copper, and Nurio because of woolen products. One of the most unique products originating in Patzcuaro, unique in the entire world, is the craft of making statues with corn paste—pasta de maiz.
This pre-Hispanic technique whereby corn stalks are used to fashion sculptures, was adapted by the conquering Spanish to make religious statues. Some of the oldest figures of Jesus and Virgin Mary go back to the late 16th century, and one of them—Jesus on the cross—is in our Parroquia, brought from Patzcuaro on commission in the mid-1600s. It is called El Senor de la Conquista, and I have written extensively about it in previous articles, our ancient bond to the city of Patzcuaro.
The unique technique and beauty of these sculptures, all made in the Patzcuaro region, are greatly appreciated everywhere. They can be found in museums and churches throughout Mexico, Spain, and other countries, including at the Vatican where one such figure was brought in 2012, and is on display there. The craft has been named an intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO; recognizing it as unique in the entire world. So our older sister-city has the recognition of one of its ancient crafts, but has not been taken in its entirety as we have.
There is an interesting story about one of these sculptures which had been taken to Spain during the vice-regal period. It was customary to bring not only goods—gold, silver, flora and fauna—from New Spain to the mother country; crafts were also taken to the king of Spain so he could appreciate all the wealth of his colonies. Many corn paste figures went to Spain. The sculptures have hollow spaces, and in one of them they recently discovered old documents that had been placed there. The papers described the mistreatment of the natives by the Spanish, and perhaps those who placed them there hoped that some official, or even the king himself, would find them and take action. Sadly, this variation of the letter in bottle never reached its intended recipient in time, it was delayed by almost 500 years.
Today, Patzcuaro is still a relatively small town with under 100,000 people. Its altitude makes a difference in temperature; it is considerably cooler than San Miguel in the months of November through February, which is the only reason I call it our “colder sister.” It has nothing to do with the residents’ attitudes who are warm and inviting, making this a lovely place to visit. And, it is worth more than one visit if you want to see several of the little towns that each have a different ancient craft—and particularly to visit the island of Janitzio which we have not done yet. Another treat is to spot some of the fishing boats, called Mariposas because of the obvious resemblance to butterfly wings that the nets create.
Above is an old photograph showing these boats, and below is a lovely painting by Pico Gonzalez, a 20th century Sanmiguelense painter whose family has deep roots in San Miguel de Allende. It’s a beautiful interpretation of the same scene done with oils.
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