Tzintzuntzan (Mesoamerican site)
[4] Eventually, much of the site and especially its distinct five rounded pyramids called yácatas were destroyed and the city almost completely abandoned.
[7] As these people did not leave written records, what we know of this city and its empire come from Spanish writings and archeological evidence.
[11] According to collected evidence, the Purépecha people may have begun to dominate the Pátzcuaro Lake area as early as 1000 CE, but definitely by 1250.
[4] Purépecha traditional history states that around the year 1325 the king, warrior and hero Tarícuri declared himself lord and made Pátzcuaro his capital.
During this time of expansion, the sphere of influence moved from Pátzcuaro to Tzintzuntzan, which had gained enough political dominance to bring the other cities under its control.
[11] The traditional history of the Empire for the 14th and 15th centuries is unclear because if it is to be believed, both Tarícuri and his nephews ruled for more than ninety years.
Records are fairly clear that the consolidation of the empire began in the mid 15th century, producing a tributary state.
[13] The pre-Hispanic city of Tzintzuntzan extended from Lake Pátzcuaro to the hills just to the east and had a population of between 25,000 and 30,000 when the Spanish arrived in the 1520s.
Even before the Spanish themselves arrived, epidemics of their diseases such as smallpox and measles had severely affected the Purépecha population, and likely killed the emperor.
A new, young emperor was hastily installed, who had little political experience and hoped to work around Spanish rule, and avoid Tenochtitlán's fate of utter destruction.
[4] Tzintzuntzan was made the first capital of the new Spanish province of Michoacán in the 1520s, and Franciscan friars arrived here to evangelize the Purépecha people.
It is situated on a large artificial platform excavated into Yahuarato hill overlooking Lake Pátzcuaro from the northeast shore.
The ceremonial center contains a large plaza and several buildings known to house priests and nobility but the main attraction is the five yácatas or semi-circular pyramids that face out over the lake area.
His principal duties were to conquer in the god's name and to ensure that the perpetual fires of the main temples were supplied with wood.
When a decision to go to war was made, huge bonfires were lit here, which would then be duplicated by priests at the eight other administrative centers of the empire.
[11] The Grand Platform is a large flat surface of 450m by 250m[2] excavated into the side of the hill on which the yácata pyramids and other structures rest.
[4] At the front of the platform, facing out towards Lake Pátzcuaro, are five yácata pyramids in a row roughly from north to south.
The core of each of these structures is piled-up rubble which was then faced with stone slabs decorated with spirals, circles and other geometric designs and petroglyphs.
[1][4] On each of the yácatas was a temple made of wood, in which the most important rites of the Purépecha people and government took place, including burials, of which about sixty have been found.
[15] Between Yácatas 3 and 4, openings into the Grand Platform have been dug to reveal some of these structures, which include three sets of stairs and part of a circular wall.
[15] At the north end of the platform is El Palacio or Building B, which was explored in the 1940s and the 1980s, with several burials of monarchs and high priests.
There are graphics relating the history of the empire's governors as well as a map of modern Michoacán indicating the locations from which the displayed objects originated.
However, recent investigations have revealed that the ancient Purépecha had a vast empire, second in territory only to the Aztecs and a complex culture that was in many ways unlike any other in Mesoamerica.
He outlined the basic characteristics of the buildings and gave a brief history of the site, emphasizing the events that led to the ancient city's destruction.
[6] The most well-known church still standing in Tzintzuntzan is the Monastery of San Francisco; its two open chapels attract tourists interested in the country's religious history.
