Zitácuaro

The city is the administrative centre for the surrounding municipality of the same name, which lies at the extreme eastern side of Michoacán and borders on the adjacent state of México.

Zitácuaro stands at 19°26′N 100°22′W / 19.433°N 100.367°W / 19.433; -100.367, in the northeast corner of Michoacán, some 150 km east of state capital Morelia, at an elevation of 1,942 metres above sea level.

The surrounding terrain are avocado orchards and the pine-covered mountains of the Sierra Madre Occidental; to the north of Zitácuaro are the famed Mexican wintering grounds of the monarch butterfly.

Zitácuaro is an important intermediate point on Federal Highway 15, which runs from Mexico City to Morelia (following the route of the colonial royal road).

Following Mexico's Declaration of Independence in September 1810, the area around Zitácuaro joined the insurgent cause under the leadership of Benedicto López, a local criollo farmer.

In response to López's cutting off of the royal road between Mexico City and Valladolid, the viceroy sent a regiment of loyalist troops to put down the rebellion.

The second took place on 1 April 1855, at the hands of troops loyal to Gen. Antonio López de Santa Anna during the Revolution of Ayutla, in response to the city's expressed support for Gen. Juan Álvarez.

The city was burnt to the ground on a third occasion on 15 April 1865 by French Imperial troops in reprisal for the Republicans' victory at Tacámbaro some days earlier.