Morelia (; from 1545 to 1828 known as Valladolid; Otomi: ) is the capital and most populous city of the Mexican state of Michoacán. Situated in the Guayangareo Valley in the north-central part of the state, it is the municipal seat of the municipality of Morelia. The main pre-Hispanic cultures here were the Purépecha and the Matlatzinca, but no major cities were founded in the valley during this time. The Spanish took control of the area in the 1520s. The Spanish under Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza founded a settlement here in 1541 with the name of Valladolid, which became rival to the nearby city of Pátzcuaro for dominance in Michoacán. In 1580, this rivalry ended in Valladolid's favor, and it became the capital of the viceregal province. After the Mexican War of Independence, the city was renamed Morelia in honor of José María Morelos, who hailed from the city. In 1991, the city was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its well-preserved historical buildings and layout of the historic center. It is tradition to name people born on September 30 after the city.
The city population in 2020 was 743,275 inhabitants. The municipality had 849,053 inhabitants, and the Metropolitan Area, composed of Morelia, Tarímbaro, and Charo municipalities, had 988,704 inhabitants, according to the XIV Census.
History
thumb|left|Jardin de las Rosas Garden and Park
thumb|right|Street and [[Cathedral of Morelia ]]
Human settlements in the Guayangareo Valley in which Morelia is located have been dated back as far as the 7th century. Artifacts found here have shown Teotihuacán culture influence on early cultures in this area. In the 12th century, the Purépecha arrived in the valley. They dominated it politically for the rest of the pre-Hispanic period but did not build any major settlements here. Between the 12th and the 15th centuries, Matlatzincas moved into the area with permission of the Purépechas, who were based around nearby Pátzcuaro Lake. The main Matlatzinca settlement was where Júarez Plaza in the city is today.
The Spanish pushed into the Guayangareo Valley between 1525 and 1526, headed by Gonzalo Gómez. In the 1530s, the area was evangelized by Franciscans such as Juan de San Miguel and Antonio de Lisboa. During the 17th century, many of the city's large churches and monasteries were established, such as the monasteries of San Francisco, San Agustin, El Carmen, and La Merced as well as the convents of Las Rosas, Las Monjas and Capuchinas. Churches include La Compañía, San Juan, and La Cruz, but the most important structure built during this time period was the cathedral. The location of this cathedral defined the composition and development of the city from then on.
At the end of the viceregal period, Valladolid was a small city with about 20,000 inhabitants. It was also an educational center with four important schools such as the College of San Nicolás. These schools would produce scholars such as Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla and José María Morelos y Pavón, who were sympathetic to the new republican ideas coming out of post-revolution France and the United States.
In 1991, the city was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to its well-preserved architecture. In 2001, street vendors were moved again from the historic center to make the area more tourist-friendly. Traffic was rerouted from here as well with the construction of new bypasses. In 2006 and 2007, many of the plazas and gardens in the historic center were remodeled. One of these actions has been to establish a formal commission to administer the area.
Geography
Climate
Under the Köppen climate classification, Morelia has a subtropical highland climate (abbreviated Cwb on climate maps), with warm-to-hot days and cool nights year round due to its high elevation. Most precipitation falls during the summer monsoon season from June to September. Average monthly temperatures are between , with maximum temperatures of in the summer of 1998 and the lowest temperature of in January 1985.
|source 2 = Ogimet (sun 1981–2010)
|date=August 2010
Population
The city of Morelia is the most populous city in the state of Michoacán and the third most important in the Bajío Region, just behind León de Los Aldama and Querétaro City.
In the most recent census carried out by Inegi in 2020 the city registered a population of 743,275 inhabitants, an increase of almost 145,000 inhabitants over the previous census carried out in 2010 when it had a population of 597,511.
Government
Notable sites
thumb|City Sign at Cathedral Plaza
Almost all of Morelia's notable sites lie in its historic center. This historic center is roughly equivalent to the original layout of the city when it was founded in 1541, and most of this layout has survived intact to the present day. Anticipating growth, this original layout had very wide streets and plazas for the time, with streets systematically arranged to allow for elongation. The streets are systematically laid out, but not rigidly squared, with most having gentle curves designed into them. Most of the grandest structures were completed during the 18th century, including the facade and bell towers of the cathedral, the Colegio Seminario (today the State Government Palace), La Alhóndiga (today part of the Palace of Justice) and numerous private mansions. During the same time period, infrastructure such as the city's aqueduct and various plaza fountains were constructed. The Mexican federal government lists 1,113 buildings built from the 16th to the 20th centuries as having historical value. The buildings encompass the various architectural styles that have been fashionable in Mexico, but nearly all are built of pink Cantera stone, which gives the city a unified appearance. Several measures were taken in the 20th century to preserve this part of the city. In 1956, the city enacted regulations to preserve the historic center's colonial buildings. In 1990, President Carlos Salinas de Gortari issued a decree making the historic center of Morelia a national historic monument. In 1991, the same area was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO,
thumb|[[Morelia Cathedral]]
The heart of the historic center is the cathedral and its surrounding plazas: the Plaza de Armas, also known as the Plaza de los Mártires, the Juárez Plaza and the Melchor Ocampo Plaza. The largest plaza is the Plaza de Armas, which has been remodeled several times since it was designed in the 16th century. It has been renamed several times as well, from "de la Constitución," "de la República" to the current official name of "de los Mártires" but popularly it retains the name of "Plaza de Armas." The plaza is surrounded by portals, and are the second tallest Baroque towers in Mexico.
thumb|Decorated Plaza next to Cathedral in Morelia
The cathedral's official name is Cathedral of the Divine Savior of Morelia. Since it was built over the 17th and 18th centuries, elements of Neoclassical, Herreresque, and Baroque architecture can be seen in the building.
The Orquidario of Morelia is an orchid museum which houses approximately 3,400 species of the flower. The botanical garden consists of three greenhouses with some outside space. The museum is managed by SEMARNAT as part of a program to preserve wild species. The botanical garden has a surface area of over and was founded in 1980.
The Museo Regional Michoacano (Regional Museum of Michoacán) was founded in 1886 and its design was heavily influenced by French ideas of museum design of the time. It is housed in a building that belonged to Emperor Maximilian I, and is of ornate Baroque design. Most of the exhibits are about the history of the region with rooms dedicated to pre-Hispanic artifacts and colonial art. One noted piece is the painting called "Traslado de las Monjas" which is considered to be the finest work produced in Michoacán during the colonial period. Other important works include the original volume of the Voyage de Humboldt et Bonpland, edited in Paris in 1807 and the murals done by Alfredo Zalce, Federico Cantú and Grace Greenwood. There are also interactive exhibits on the origins of the earth and life. The museum also has conference rooms, a library, and a reading room.
The Museo del Estado (The State Museum) is dedicated to the state's past and present. It was opened in 1986 and divided into three sections – archeology, history and ethnology of the state. There is also an exhibit of the old Mier Pharmacy with its equipment from 1868. The museum is a mansion dating from the 18th century.
The was first documented in 1549. It was used to transport fresh water to the required destination so that the inhabitants of the city could access it. The water system was made of used wood from canoes in the area to create the base structure during its construction. As years passed with the use of the aqueduct constantly changing, there was an incident that occurred in 1784. The incident was that part of the Morelia aqueduct foundation collapsed, leaving hundreds without access to the water. On October 21, 1785, a document detailed the reconstruction of the aqueduct, and a man named Fray Antonio de San Miguel volunteered to make a plan for the reconstruction of the structure. With Fray Antonio's plans, they completely reconstructed the arches and added fixtures to repair the previous damage. As the repairs were completed the aqueduct remained in use until it stopped functioning in 1910; it remains standing to this day. The whole Aqueduct structure consisted of 253 arches (some of which have collapsed over the years), at a height of .
In front of the Aqueduct is the Fuente de las Tarascas, one of the most popular fountains in the city. The current version was installed in 1984.
Notable people
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- Alma Graciela Haro Cabello (born 1927), singer known as Esmeralda
- Agustín de Iturbide, Mexican army general and politician, 1st emperor of Mexico
- Felipe Calderón, president of Mexico from 2006-2012
- Pascual Ortiz Rubio (1877-1963), president of Mexico from 1930-1932
- Junior Félix Madrigal (born 1982), Mexican footballer
- José Manuel Ponce, Mexican race car driver
- Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez, important Mexican insurgent in Mexican independence
- José María Morelos, important Mexican insurgent, Key in the Mexican Independence
Festivals
The Festival Internacional de Música de Morelia is an annual event that was begun in 1988 by Bernal Jiménez, who had the dream of making Morelia the "Salzburg of Americas". The festival consists of more than forty concerts with over 500 artists participating. It has become the largest music festival in Morelia, with private and government sponsors, esp. CONACULTA. Concerts include those by chamber orchestras, choirs, ensambles, trios and soloists such as pianist Joanna MacGregor and the Britten Symphony. Each year, a different country is the "special guest," which in 2009 was the United Kingdom. In that year, some of the participants included the London Symphony Orchestra, the Brodsky Quartet, La Britten Symphony Orchestra, the Coro Nova Schola Gregoriana Di Verona of Italy, and violinist Tanya Anisimova from Russia. Participants from Mexico included the National Symphonic Orchestra, the Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería and flautist Horacio Franco.
The Festival de Escala is an annual event dedicated to promoting rock climbing in the municipality at places such as El Paredón de la Noria, just south of the city proper.
A popular festival that features a 3-day Salsa competition in the heart of Morelia is called "SalsaMich". Typically held in March, the festival brings Salsa dancers from all across the country to Morelia to compete for prizes.
Sister cities
Morelia has a sister city relationship with Yakima, Washington, supported since 1999 by the Yakima-Morelia Sister City Association. Cultural exchanges between the cities have included musicians from Morelia who have performed with the Yakima Symphony Orchestra.
Morelia has other sister cities around the world, including: Arequipa in Peru; Caspueñas, Valladolid, and Madrigal de las Altas Torres in Spain; Gettysburg, Kansas City, Fullerton, Monterey Park, Norwalk, and Shreveport in the United States; Matanzas and Havana in Cuba; and Sopó in Colombia.
Education
thumb|Colegio de San Nicolas
During the colonial period the city had four major educational institutions, the Colegio Seminario Tridentino, the Colegio de San Nicolás, the Colegio de los Jesuitas and the Colegio de las Rosas.
Nowadays, the Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo is the most important university in the state of Michoacán. It has been rated also as one of the Top 10 best public universities in Mexico. The university has recently expanded to other smaller cities in the state other than Morelia, such as Uruapan, Apatzingán, Ciudad Hidalgo, Lázaro Cárdenas, Coalcoman, Huetamo, Tangancicuaro and Zitacuaro. In 2011, according to the INEGI census, the university had 55,546 regular students.
Other universities in the city include Instituto Tecnológico de Morelia (ITM), Universidad Tecnológica de Morelia (UTM), Instituto Michoacano de Ciencias de la Educación, Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo del Estado de Michoacán (CIDEM), the Morelia Campus of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, Instituto de Estudios Superiores de la Comunicación (IESCAC), Universidad Pedagógica Nacional, Conservatorio de las Rosas, Universidad Vasco de Quiroga, Universidad Latina de America, Universidad La Salle Morelia, Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey- Campus Morelia ITESM, Universidad Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz and many other different private universities.
Sports
thumb|[[Morelos Stadium]]
Morelia was represented by their soccer team, Monarcas Morelia, in the Liga MX.
Monarcas Morelia was founded in 1950 on a field outside the city where a monument to Lázaro Cárdenas is now located. The team's original name was Club Deportivo Morelia and was owned by Eucuario Gómez. The club's colors are the city's flag colors red and yellow because Morelia is known to be the most Spanish city in Mexico.
The club was nicknamed "Amarillo" (Yellow) during the 1956–57 season, when the club won the right to play in the 1st division in which they played in their first tournament for the Copa México against Club América.
The club descended into the 2nd division again in 1968 and experienced tough times during the early 70s. By the end of the 1973–74 season the team was completely restructured by 32 Morelia Businessmen who acquired the team. After 13 years in the 2nd division, the team finally returned to 1st division play in 1981 and by the mid-1980s was competitive and reaching the Liguilla (playoffs) regularly.
Following many years of playing at Estadio Venustiano Carranza, the completion of Estadio Morelos in 1989 gave the team a new home. In 1996, the team was acquired by TV Azteca and the name Monarcas (Monarchs) Morelia was adopted in 1999 because of the three Spanish Monarchs shown in the flag of Morelia. The team won its first championship during the Invierno 2000 season and by mid-decade, was playing in international competition such as the Copa Libertadores and the Liga de Campeones de la CONCACAF (CONCACAF Champions League). The team's latest success came during the 2010 North American SuperLiga tournament, which Monarcas won over the New England Revolution on September the 1st, 2010, at New England.
The team closed the Apertura 2010 tournament of the Primera División de México (Mexico's 1st division), failing to make the "liguilla".
In 2020 it was announced that the franchise would be moving to the city of Mazatlán, Sinaloa, and would be Renamed Mazatlán F.C. Soon after, the municipal government announced that they would have a new team playing in the Liga de Expansión MX (Mexico's second division) under the name Atlético Morelia
Transportation
thumb|Airport of Morelia
Morelia is three or four hours from Mexico City via the Atlacomulco-Maravatío-Morelia highway and is connected by highways to the states of Mexico, Querétaro, Guanajuato and Jalisco. It is connected to the Michoacán coast via highway 200 that passes through Uruapan to the port of Lázaro Cárdenas. General Francisco Mujica International Airport or Morelia International Airport (IATA: MLM, ICAO: MMMM) is an international airport at Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico. The airport handles both domestic and international flights, with connections to Mexico City, Uruapan, Lázaro Cárdenas, Acapulco, Zihuatanejo, Guadalajara, Monterrey, Tijuana and several destinations in the United States. The airport is named after a former governor of the state of Michoacán. The municipality covers a territory of and borders the municipalities of Tarímbaro, Chucándiro, Huaniqueo, Charo, Tzitzio, Villa Madero, Acuitzio, Lagunillas, Coeneo, Tzintzuntzan and Quiroga.
One industrial area is the Ciudad Industrial de Morelia, which mostly houses small and medium-sized enterprises. Some of the products manufactured here include cooking oil, flour, cement, plastics, bottling and candies. Tourism accounts for the main economic activity in Morelia. Unfortunately, due to Mexico's rising crime in drug trafficking within the cartels, this can provide a grave disincentive in the tourism sector for Morelia.
According to Standard & Poor's report for November 2009, the government of Morelia maintains an adequate development budget, backed by relatively high income and low debt. It is rated on a national scale for Mexico as A+. The economy is projected to be stable with the government keeping control of expenses.