Hidden Corners
Michoacán Morelia, Michoacán

Morelia at a glance

 

If you have a sweet tooth, enjoy Mexican ‘antojitos’ and like to walk around admiring historical buildings, Morelia is THE city for you! So, put on a pair of sneakers and discover all that this town has to offer…

PS: During your trip make sure to put on some weight with the delicious corundas and morelianas, get know the state’s handicrafts, admire the cathedral, and enjoy a beautiful stroll around this 16th century city filled with over 200 pink quarry stone buildings in medieval, renaissance, baroque and neoclassic style.

 

 

Rose Garden

If you’ve been to Coyoacán neighborhood in Mexico City, you’ll get an instant flashback. Restaurants, cafés and bars surrounded by gardens, people playing their instruments for some coins and young artists setting up their hippie looking handmade jewelry, paintings and other crafts on the floor.

Don’t expect to see a garden full of roses. The name was actually given by the beautiful baroque Santa Rosa Church, located in the same plaza.

 

We ate at La Casona de las Rosas (pink building) some delicious uchepos and corundas, Michoacán’s traditional dishes. Very tasty and cheap!

 

 

 

Los Portales

Want to feel like a local? This is the place. Sit at one of the restaurants located underneath these arches and watch the movement of the main square (point of gathering) and the breathtaking façade of the cathedral.

 

We highly recommend Lu restaurant. Still dreaming about their poblano pepper with uchepo (corn tamale) filling, covered in a bean sauce.

 

 

 

Morelia’s Cathedral

It took 84 years to build this majestic piece of architecture. Some of the treasures it holds are the three-meter monstrance in gold and silver, the organ with 4,600 pipes from early 20th century and an image of Christ made out of corn paste.

Tip: the best view of the cathedral is on Calle Benito Juárez.

 

There’s a law that forbids the construction of buildings higher than 67 meters, so that the cathedral remains the tallest building in the city.

 

Every Saturday at 20:45 there’s an event called ‘Encendido de la Catedral’, where they light up the building and offer a fireworks show.

 

 

 

Candy and Handicrafts Market

Morelia is the land for those with a sweet tooth, and this market has every Mexican candy you can imagine, plus some regional handicrafts (mainly textiles and leather and copper items). FYI: prices are lower than in the Museo del Dulce.

What to buy:

  • Láminas de ate (thin slices of dried quince cheese covered in sugar or chili powder)
  • Ate (quince cheese of various fruits)
  • Jamoncillo (paste made out of sugar, milk and walnut or almond)
  • Morelianas (thin crisps of cajeta)
  • Chongos zamoranos (milk curds with cinnamon syrup)

 

If you want to try the traditional drink, ask the vendor for a bottle of ‘Charanda’ ($70 mxn) –it’s a sugarcane alcoholic beverage.

 

 

 

Museo del Dulce

A Parisian style bakery, dating back to 1840, that preserves its old-fashioned décor and offers a vast variety of candy. They are famous for their ates (quince cheese) made with natural fruit and for making their employees dress up in Victorian clothing.

 

Our favorite purchase, that haven’t found anywhere else, are their morelianas; the recipe is amazing! Very different from the ones you can find at the market.

 

They have a museum at the back (tickets are sold at the cash register for $25 mxn) where you learn about the evolution of their candy making process and have a very quick ate cooking class. No information in English and not really worth it, to be honest. But, walking through the beautiful store is more than enough.

 

 

 

Las Tarascas Fountain

The fountain itself is a bronze sculpture of three women carrying goods, symbolizing abundance and fertility. But, the real attraction are the mezcalerías and restaurants across the street that enjoy the view of the aqueduct.

 

Behind the fountain there’s Calzada Fray Antonio de San Miguel, a pedestrian street surrounded by beautiful colonial buildings that often has free public exhibitions.

 

In this plaza there’s also an upscale market called Mercado San Lucas, where you can find quirky stores and restaurants.

 

 

 

Romance Alley

Just behind Mercado San Lucas there’s a small picturesque alley called ‘Callejón del Romance’. Here, you can enjoy the fountains, the bougainvilleas and pieces of the poem ‘Romance de mi ciudad’ by Don Lucas Ortiz written along the walls. Plus, there’s a popular live music bar (troubadour, mainly) to your right.

 

This alley is also part of the love padlocks movement. So, if you have a partner, bring one!

 

 

 

Museo Casa Natal de Morelos 

Garden is pretty and there’s a fire burning all year round in the exact spot where José María Morelos y Pavón, the leader of Mexico’s independent movement, was born. But, if you are looking for more information about him and his ideology, there’s another museum a block away called ‘Museo Casa de Morelos’ with a nicer curation.

 

This museum also has a room with an animatronic of Morelos sharing his ideals (in Spanish).

 

 

 

Our Lady of Guadalupe Sanctuary

If you want to be truly surprised with a church’s décor, this small-ish temple from the 18th century, dedicated to the Virgin of Guadalupe, will blow your mind; especially the contrast of the walls and ceiling with the neoclassic altar.

 

In 1732, Calzada de Fray Antonio de San Miguel (the pedestrian street with colonial houses we talked about earlier) was built to connect this isolated church with the rest of the city.

 

 

 

Michoacán’s Handicrafts Museum/Market

Totally worth it. The museum part shows all of Michoacán’s handicrafts and how they make them: guitars, embroidery, copper items, hand-painted wooden plates or boxes, corn-paste sculptures, silver jewelry, wood carved furniture, pottery, etc. And at the entrance, there’s a big store selling most of the pieces found in the museum, plus many small stores on the last floor, each representing a region of Michoacán.

 

Definitely a must if you visit Morelia. Prices are higher than usual, but not crazy expensive.

 

 

 

Great night view

‘La Azotea’ restaurant in Los Juaninos Hotel is a good place to have dinner. Food is okay (nothing exceptional), but the view is splendid. We did our reservation on OpenTable and chose to sit at the ‘terraza’, but they only serve drinks and appetizers there. If you want to eat a proper meal, ask for a table by the window inside the restaurant.

 

The company that worked on the illumination of Morelia’s Cathedral is the same that made the Eiffel Tower sparkle at night.

 

 

 

 

 

Useful information

 

Map

We’ve pinpointed all the sites mentioned above on to this map, to save you some time. Have a great trip!

 

How to move

-Choose a hotel near the center. From there everything is at walking distance.

-If you want to visit nearby towns, use taxis. Uber hasn’t been allowed to operate in Morelia (syndicate’s doing).

 

Celular service

It’s difficult to get proper signal and good internet due to the amount of quarry in the city, so be patient.

 

 

1 Comment

  1. Michael
    November 1, 2020 / 9:35 am

    Uber is alive and well in Morelia, just FYI (Nov 2020). I use it all the time. And I’ve never had a problem with cellular service anywhere in the city. Again, just FYI.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

This function has been disabled for Hidden Corners.