The Purépecha Empire began with Tariácuri, the first chief of the area assumed the title of "caltzontzin," or emperor, by conquering his neighbors.

The 1540s saw a repopulation of the area with Bishop Vasco de Quiroga convincing many of the Indians to return and brought in a number of Spanish families.

[1] Pátzcuaro remained the largest city in the Spanish province until about ten years after Vasco de Quiroga's death.

Ecclesiastical authorities moved the diocese and the College of San Nicolás, established by Vasco de Quiroga, to Valladolid as well.

Gertrudis Bocanegra was shot by firing squad for her participation in insurgent activities by royalist forces on the main square of Pátzcuaro on 10 October 1817.

The city was then attacked by General Régules of the Republican side, who took possession of the town after a bloody fight and named liberal leaders.

[1] During the Porfirio Díaz period, just before the Mexican Revolution, the Pátzcuaro area was heavily dominated by large landholders, haciendas and some foreign companies, pushing popular sympathy with the rebels to come.

During the presidency of Lázaro Cárdenas (1934–40), who was from Michoacán, Pátzcuaro became a cultural center and national destination for tourism, building infrastructure to support the industry, creating public monuments and archeological excavations, and conservation of its colonial and indigenous look.

[8] Patzcuaro is the market hub of the region, with smaller villages bringing in their own specialized crafts such as copperware, black pottery, musical instruments, baskets etc.

Other common plants include geraniums, mallows, bougainvilleas, tiger lilies, marigolds, azaleas, hydrangeas, roses, palm trees, selaginella and various cacti.

The Plaza Grande was dedicated to Vasco de Quiroga in 1964, when a fountain containing a bronze statue of the bishop was placed in the center.

The main square is filled with stores selling a very wide variety of crafts including carved wooden statues and furniture, brightly painted accents depicting flowers and animals, brilliant piles of woven textiles, draperies, tablecloths, bedspreads and napkins, wooden figures, religious art, clay plaques and pots, polished wooden boxes and guitars, picture frames, woolen blankets, copper vases and platters, basketry and items made of woven straw and reed, and sculpted and scented candles.

[11] The market off of Gertrudis Bocanegra specializes in woolen goods, kitchen implements, pottery, copper and straw items.

[1] Two blocks east of the Plaza Chica is the most important church in Pátzcuaro, the Basilica of Nuestra Señora de la Salud.

[13] This church was built by Vasco de Quiroga over a pre-Hispanic ceremonial site to function as the Cathedral of Michoacán.

[11] The building was originally constructed as the College of San Nicolás in the 16th century by Vasco de Quiroga to prepare young men for the priesthood and to teach Indian youth to read and write.

[11] In the west corridor, the oldest part of the complex, there is a fountain and a Baroque portal leading to a room that had a bathtub with hot and cold running water, a rare luxury at the time.

[11] The Church of San Ignacio de Loyola, better known as the Temple of the Company of Jesus, is one of the most relevant religious structures architecturally.

It is said that the machinery for the clock was brought from Spain on orders of Charles V who wanted to get rid of it for marking an hour that was disagreeable to the Crown.

Another story states that an unfortunate young woman was killed by the clock when she got in the way of the bell and the pendulum when it was ready to ring twelve.

[7] This temple and the cloister next door housed the Jesuits when they came to Pátzcuaro at the request of Vasco de Quiroga because of their reputation in the field of education.

The pez blanco (whitefish) that used to bring tourists to Pátzcuaro are no longer fished because of the lake's contamination, although on special occasions the famous butterfly nets are often displayed in canoes on the water.

[8] Until 2007, only Pátzcuaro had a water treatment facility with smaller communities discharging wastewater directly into the lake, causing grave pollution problems.

[19] The government of the state of Michoacán, the federal environmental protection agency and the Instituto Mexicano de Tecnologia del Agua have started a program to clean up the basin of Lake Pátzcuaro.

In the early morning of November 1, the "velación de los angelitos" (wake for the little angels) to honor children who have died during the previous year.

During this day also is an event called the "teruscan," in which children run around town "stealing" ears of corn, squash and chayotes from the roofs of neighbors’ houses.

[3] Festivities continue to midnight on November 2, which begins the "velación de los difuntos" (wake for the deceased) when again the towns gather in local cemeteries.

Canoeing competitions on the lake are popular here as well as "torneos de calaveras"(tournaments of skulls) which are satirical poetry contests with the theme of death and black humor.

[21] Other traditional events associated with Day of the Dead here include the Concert of the Basilica of Pátzcuaro and the staging of "Don Juan Tenorio" in Erongarícuaro.

Most industry here involves food processing and the making of crafts such as furniture, textiles, jewelry, ironwork, religious figures and other things.