Tzintzuntzan

Tzintzuntzan, the “place of hummingbirds”, was the lakeside capital of the Purépecha kingdom. Terraces and platforms climbed the slopes above Lake Pátzcuaro, and five distinctive yácatas stood in its great ceremonial precinct. From this city the irecha, or ruler, governed a realm that rivalled the Mexica. Tzintzuntzan was also a market and a centre of skilled craft production.

In the fifteenth century Purépecha rulers expanded their dominion across Michoacán and held the eastern frontier against Mexica attacks. When Spanish forces under Cristóbal de Olid arrived in 1522, the young ruler Tangáxoan II submitted. He was later seized and executed by Nuño de Guzmán after a trial and torture. The Spaniards initially retained Tzintzuntzan as an administrative centre, and Franciscans established a convent there. The bishop’s seat was later moved to Pátzcuaro, but the yácatas remained above the lake as monuments to the former capital.