| Tzintzuntzan (elevation: 7,000 feet) is a small town in the
state of Michoacán.
NATURAL WORLD
Located on the southern side of Lake
Pátzcuaro, the town boasts about forty olive trees
about 500 years old.
HISTORY
The town was the center of the Purépecha,
whom the Spanish called the Tarascos. The Purépecha used
iridescent feathers of the hummingbirds to adorn their clothing.
The name Tzintzuntzan means 'the place of the hummingbirds.'
Their lands cover what is now Michoacán, some of Jalisco
and part of the Pacific coast. Purépecha rule dates from
1100 AD though little remains of the empire.
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