Morelia
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| Historic Centre of Morelia* | |
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| UNESCO World Heritage Site | |
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| State Party |  Mexico |
| Type | Cultural |
| Criteria | ii, iv, vi |
| Reference | 585 |
| Region† | Latin America and the Caribbean |
| Inscription history | |
| Inscription | 1991 (15th Session) |
| * Name as inscribed on World Heritage List. † Region as classified by UNESCO. |
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- This article is about the city. For other meanings, see Morelia (disambiguation).
Morelia is the capital of the Mexican state of Michoacán de Ocampo. The city is located at with an elevation of 1 921 meters above sea level in the region of the Guayangareo Valley, surrounded by the Punhuato and Quinceo Hills. The City is the biggest in the state, and the population of the "conurbated area" was 642,314 people (608,049 in Morelia city), according to the census of 2005 (Segundo Conteo de Población y Vivienda 2005). The municipality of Morelia, of which the city serves as municipal seat, has an area of 1,199.02 km² (462.94 sq mi) and a population of 684,145. It includes such outlying towns as Morelos and Capula. The city's mayor is Fausto Vallejo, from the PRI. It is his third non-consecutive term as presidente municipal.
The metropolitan area includes the municipality of Tarímbaro, and had 735,624 inhabitants in the same year (2005).
The city's historic downtown area which houses more than 1000 colonial buildings and churches became a World Heritage Site in 1991.
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[edit] History
Before the arrival of the Spaniards, the region was inhabited by a people known as the Pirindas, and the place was called "Guayangareo". Morelia was officially founded on May 18, 1541 by the first viceroy of New Spain Antonio de Mendoza, as "City of Michoacán". It was inhabited by 50 Spanish noble families and by purepecha Indians (brought from Patzcuaro and Tiripetio to serve the Spanish). In 1545, the name was changed to "Valladolid".
Unlike Patzcuaro, indigenous city of which was an enemy for a long time, Valladolid was essentially Spanish, inhabited by conquistadors and their descendants, and by upstarts that came from the metropolis. In 1547 it got the title of city, and was given a coat of arms in 1553.
The rivalry between Patzcuaro and Valladolid occurred when they began a dispute about where the seat of the bishopric of Michoacan should locate. The Spaniards wanted Valladolid to be made into an episcopal city, but Vasco de Quiroga, who always defended the Indians from the Spaniards, wanted this title to be granted to Patzcuaro. In 1571, six years after Vasco de Quiroga's death, the king of Spain Philip II upgraded Valladolid to an episcopal city.
In 1580, Valladolid replaced Pátzcuaro as the capital of Michoacán. During the colonial period a number of religious orders established themselves in the city, allowing it to take an important place in the history of art and culture in Mexico. Important architectural sites from the colonial period include the Catedral de Morelia, the Aqueduct (built between 1785 and 1789 by Fray Antonio de San Miguel), the Governor's Palace, the Palacio Clavijero, and numerous churches, convents, and houses. The Conservatorio de Música de las Rosas of Morelia was the first music conservatory in the Americas.
The city is the birthplace of José María Morelos (1765), after whom it was renamed in September 12, 1828, and who along with Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla began the Mexican War of Independence from Spain in 1810. It was also the birthplace of Agustín de Iturbide (1783), the first Emperor of Mexico and Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez.
[edit] Historic monuments
The Historic Downtown Area (Centro Histórico) encompasses approximately 150 city blocks at the city center, roughly corresponding to the urban area of the city at the end of the eighteenth century. The Centro Historico contains over 1,000 historical buildings and sites.
Morelia is characterized by the magnificence of its monuments which are mostly colonial. The most remarkable buildings are the baroque cathedral, finished in 1744; the convent of San Francisco, built in 1513; the convent of San Agustin, founded in 1550; the college and temple of La Compañia de Jesus, started in 1580 and known as Palacio Clavijero; the convent of El Carmen, constructed in 1597; the convent of Santa Catarina that dates from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
Other important constructions are the 1613 convent of La Merced, the college of Santa Rosa María whose foundation was in 1743; the palace of the Executive, its construction started in 1734 and finished in 1770; the eighteenth century palaces of the Legislature and of the Judiciary; the sixteenth century college Primitivo y Nacional de San Nicolas de Hidalgo, reconstructed in 1882, the eighteenth century museum Michoacano; and the house where Jose Maria Morelos was born, on Corregidora street, which is now used as a museum, library and for cultural events.
The Casa de las Artesanías features a large variety of high quality artisanal works. There are several other notable historical churches in town including the Templo de las Rosas annex to the Conservatorio de las Rosas, which are both examples of baroque architecture, and the Templo de San Diego (also known as Santuario de Guadalupe), built with an interpretation of the Rococo style using indigenous colors and techniques. The monumental aqueduct, built in colonial days to bring water into town, was functional through 1910. It is made up by more than 250 arches. Its construction started in 1787 and finished in 1789. The inner city is built of reddish sandstone, lending the city a unique character among Mexico's many noteworthy colonial cities and giving origin to the name "Ciudad de las Canteras Rosas" that is sometimes used in reference to Morelia.
[edit] Other attractions
Monarcas Morelia, a soccer team playing in the Primera División de México, is based in Morelia.
Morelia has three beautiful golf courses: "Club Campestre de Morelia" founded in 1968, which has 9 holes with great difficulty because of very large trees and beautiful lakes; "Tres Marias", a 27-hole Jack Nicklaus-designed course that hosts the LPGA once a year; "Club Erandeni", which recently opened its fairways to the public. A fourth, designed by Carter Morrish, is under development in Bosque Monarca, now known as Altozano.
At the southern edge of the city is the Santa Maria mountain range, and is home to upscale residential districts, private sector schools and Universidad Vasco de Quiroga and Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey. Under construction in this area is Paseo Morelia, a shopping center which will be among the largest in Latin America, slated to open in late 2008. The main road leading to this area has been recently re-named Juan Pablo Blvd., and it leads to a glorieta (traffic circle) bear a bronze statute of the late Pope John Paul II. Land has been donated in the vicinity for the construction of a school operated by the Legionnaires of Christ. Originally called Montaña Monarca, this development has been renamed Altozano and is patterned after the Ave Maria planned community near Naples, Florida.
[edit] Higher education
Among the public and private universities located in Morelia are:
- Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo (public). This is the main university of Michoacán. It was founded in 1551 as the Colegio de San Nicolás by Vasco de Quiroga, first bishop of Michoacán. It is one of the oldest universities in America and one of the most important public universities of Mexico.
- UNAM - Unidad Morelia (public).
- Instituto Tecnológico de Morelia (public).
- Universidad Vasco de Quiroga (private)
- Universidad Latina de América, UNLA (private)
- Universidad LaSalle (private)
- Universidad de Morelia (private)
- Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM) Campus Morelia (private)
- Universidad Tec Milenio (private)
[edit] References
- Link to tables of population data from Census of 2005 INEGI: Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informática
- Michoacán Enciclopedia de los Municipios de México
[edit] External links
- (Spanish) Official website
- (Spanish) Photo gallery of Morelia
- (Spanish) Info of Morelia
- (Spanish) Google map of Morelia with points of interest
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