A beautiful small city of 80,000 people and at a elevation over 7000 feet in southern Mx. It is described as a enchanting lakeside village located in the state of Michoacan, Mx. The town was founded in the 1320s and was known as a ceremonial city. It obtained municipal status by 1839.
If is surrounded by incredible mountains and pine trees. There were a few roads that I almost thought i was in Tahoe due to the lushness.
The are several meanings to the word Patzcuaro, which means "place died in black".
Since the Mexican revolution, the city has worked to keep its tradition colonial-indigenous appearance. Most of the houses are made of adobe with tiled roofs. It is considered a marketing hub and people from the surrounding areas bring their arts and crafts in to the town center to sell. There is a heavy influence of copper, black pottery, baskets and guitars.
We were lucky to have arrived 11 days before Christmas. It was incredibly festive, music, parades for Santa and the most beautiful church service at the Cathedral. The Cathedrals are known for their reverence, diversity and "come one, come all, you are all welcome". Thousands of people came to church and to enjoy the celebrations in the town square.
The squeals of delight from the children as the old cars decorated with Christmas lights as they threw candy to the children. They were truly enchanted to just be there in the safety of the Town Square with their families near by. The decorations were every bit as nice as in the US, maybe nicer as everything was built by the people. Each day new decorations went up. There was a parade of cars lit up and old Volkswagen buses decked out stem to stern. It wasn't just the kids loving it, the four of us oozed with delight.
The food was incredible, but the service was really the highlight of the meals. The attentiveness, the care in which they served us, the attention to detail were amazing. Each meal was a special experience.
But truthfully, it was the people of Patzcuaro that made this enchanting weekend. We all thank you!
We were all so glad that we had a special weekend in this delightful city.