Pátzcuaro
municipal seat of Pátzcuaro, State of Michoacán, Mexico
Pátzcuaro (Spanish: [ˈpatskwaɾo] ) is a city and municipality located in the state of Michoacán, Mexico. The town was founded sometime in the 1320s, at first becoming the capital of the Purépecha Empire and later its ceremonial center. After the Spanish took over, Vasco de Quiroga worked to make Pátzcuaro the capital of the New Spain province of Michoacán, but after his death, the capital would be moved to nearby Valladolid (today Morelia). Pátzcuaro has retained its colonial and indigenous character since then, and it has been named one of the 111 "Pueblos Mágicos" by the government of Mexico. Pátzcuaro, and the lake region to which it belongs, is well known as a site for Day of the Dead celebrations.
There are several possibilities as to the meaning of "Pátzcuaro." The first is "phascuaro," which means "place dyed in black;" or "patatzecuaro," which means "place of foundations." Another possible meaning is "petatzimícuaro," "place of bullrushes." Other possible meanings are: "place of weasel," "happy place;" and "seat of temples." Pátzcuaro received its coat of arms in 1553 from Charles V of Spain.
History
The earliest written document about the founding of Pátzcuaro comes as a recording of its foundation narrative in the Relación de Michoacán written in 1539-1541, during the era of Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza. It states that two chiefs by the names of Páracume and Vápeani arrived in the area, then called Tarimichundiro, with their tribe, the Chichimecas. Here they began to build their temples, called "cues" by placing four large rocks close together. No date is given for this event, but since the deaths of the two original chiefs occurred in 1360, it is widely supposed that the founding occurred around 1324.
The public source identifies “Pátzcuaro” as municipal seat of Pátzcuaro, State of Michoacán, Mexico. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Pátzcuaro, municipal and seat.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 27, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1021051. VIAF identifies the subject as 157110351. Authority coordinates are 19.516, -101.610. 4 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1553, 1539, 1541 and 1360.
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This entry incorporates text from “Pátzcuaro” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.