Tlalpujahua and Angangueo are the two Magical Mining Towns of Michoacán. Both towns share stories of wealth and loss, which today give way to new stories of Christmas illusion and nearby forests full of monarch butterflies.

Tlalpujahua is a small town with a mining past, clinging to a hill, a survivor of tragedies and heir to the most beautiful tradition of Christmas. At the top, the impressive image of the Parish of San Pedro and San Pablo contrasts in its baroque splendor with the sobriety of San Francisco, the first convent of the town, in its lower part. In between, a succession of cobbled streets, picturesque portals, sunny squares and facades covered in flowers.

The mining past of Tlalpujahua can be sensed in the details. On the tin roofs of so many houses—that’s how the workers were paid. In the small chapels where the miners entrusted themselves to the Virgin to ask for protection. And, above all, on the infamous esplanade where the Torre del Carmen remains the only vestige of the enormous catastrophe that caused thousands of deaths in 1937 and ended mining in the region. The Dos Estrellas Mine awaits you to tell you many stories about the miners and fabulous anecdotes. You will be able to learn how they worked and take a trip back in time by entering the mine tunnel. This visit that will connect you with the past and the magic of this town.

The Magical Town of Tlalpujahua is today known throughout Mexico for the production of Christmas spheres. Every fall, thousands of people come to the Sphere Fair to buy Christmas decorations handcrafted in hundreds of workshops. An excellent occasion to see the artists in the blowing of glass or in the decoration of spheres.

And you can’t leave without trying the exquisite sweets, preserves and traditional herbal liqueurs. Health in every drink!