Uruapan

Uruapan is the second largest city in the state of Michoacán and a mayor avocado producer. Located in the Purépecha plateau, it has a privileged weather and it is one of Michoacan’s main tourist spots. Standing alongside the Cupatitzio River, the singing river, lies the famous Huatápera indigenous museum, which is also the place where Vasco de Quiroga died in 1565.

The city’s pre-Hispanic past can be remembered in the Tingambato archeological site but it is the living culture of the place which fills the land with color. From the Purépecha plateau you can gaze upon the clearest and starriest skies, especially in the towns of Nurio, Cocucho, Zacán, Pomacuarán and Charapan. It is also home of great craftsmen who patiently elaborate all kinds of musical instruments, shawls, vases, overcoats and more. Uruapan’s Palm Sunday Handcraft Market is Latin-America’s largest crafts market; there you can find a million of handmade pieces, elaborated by the region’s most talented artisans.

Purépecha customs and traditions are kept alive in celebrations such as the Purépecha People Festival in Zacan, which is a wonderful opportunity to learn about the local culture and its great value; For example, the Purépecha’s traditional music, known as pirekua has been declared an Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO, as well as the local cuisine, whose ingredients and taste where find worth of this honor. It is a most to try dishes such as its great variety of tamales and corundas, the chripo de res (beef stew) and Mexican barbecue.

Local artisans elaborate shawls, overcoats, and very detailed and colorful polished pottery.

The region encompasses the following municipalities: Uruapan, Ziracuaretiro, Paracho, Nuevo Parangaricutiro, Charapan, Tingambato, Los Reyes, Gabriel Zamora, Cherán, Taretan and Nahuatzen.