Located on the banks of Pátzcuaro Lake, the pre-Hispanic city of Tzintzuntzan was undoubtedly one of the most important settlements at the time of the Spaniards’ arrival in the sixteenth century, because apart from being the capital of the Tarascan state, it was also the site where the weightiest political, economic and religious decisions were taken.
Systematic excavations in this important archeological zone began in the late nineteenth century, with works initially carried out by Michoacán-born scholar Nicolás León, and later resumed in the late 1930s by the recently established National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH). During numerous research seasons, right up to the present day, these studies have been led by some of the most respected Mexican archeologists: Alfonso Caso, Daniel Rubín de la Borbolla, Román Piña Chan and Arturo Oliveros.
The ancient city of Tzintzuntzan is spread across wide terraces and extensive platforms ranged along the sides of the Yarahuato and Tariaqueri hills, providing a base for important archeological structures. The entire area covered approximately 1,665 acres and, when the Spaniards arrived, it had an estimated population of 30,000. Historical documents describe a city with temples, an imposing palace-residence of the cazonci or ruler, as well as many buildings used for a number of different activities. Unfortunately, much more research is needed to understand the city in its entirety, because so far studies have been focused on a small area where the monumental structures were built.
One of the unique aspects of Tzintzuntzan, and the Tarascan state in general, is the fact that we are able to trace a more or less accurate genealogy of the Tarascan rulers. Records begin with Tariacuri, the group’s cultural hero, son of Pauacume and a woman from Xarácuaro (a small island on Pátzcuaro Lake), who finally took over the rule of Pátzcuaro for his people after many battles with the lords of Curinguaro and other lower-ranking chieftains of the islands and around the lake. This initiated a drawn-out period of wars and alliances that brought about the creation of the Tarascan state. After numerous conflicts, Tariacuri, by then lord of Pátzcuaro, summoned his two nephews, Hiripan and Tangaxoan, as well as his son Hiquingaje, to the Thiuapu forest, and appointed them rulers and the heirs of his conquests. He left Ihuatzio to Hiripan, Tzintzuntzan to Tangaxoan and the city of Pátzcuaro to his son Hiquingaje.
Hiripan became the most influential of the three. He established his capital in Ihuatzio, and took from Pátzcuaro images of his principal god, Curicaueri. Upon the death of Hiripan, lord of Ihuatzio, Tzintzuntzan became the most powerful city during the first half of the fifteenth century. Tanganxoan I (?-1454) was the man who, according to the account known as the Relación de Michoacán, carrying out the orders of the goddess Xaratanga, “rebuilt” the city, as it appears to have been abandoned and the goddess was no longer being worshipped.
After Tanganxoan died, he was succeeded as lord of Tzintzuntzan by Tzitzispandacuare (1454-1479). First of all he set about transporting to the city the principle Tarascan god called Curicaueri. He was the ruler responsible for expanding the state, making incursions into the valley of Toluca and Xocotitlán, as well as into the region called Tierra Caliente, Colima, and Zacatula in Guerrero. His descendant, Zuangua (1479-1520), continued this territorial expansion and consolidated the empire’s eastern boundaries. Zuangua learned of the conquistadors’ arrival in Tenochtitlan, but died shortly before the first Spaniards reached Michoacán. In the end it fell to Tzinzincha Tangánxoan II (1510-1530)—who was a very young man—to receive the Spaniards. He died at their hands.
Michoacán became the base for the Spanish conquistadors’ expeditions in western Mexico, and the city of Tzintzuntzan remained inhabited. It was home to Spanish conquistadors and members of religious orders, who lived alongside the Uacusecha nobility and the Purépecha people. Following the arrival of Vasco de Quiroga, and after taking possession of the Michoacán diocese in 1538, he decided to transfer the seat of the diocese and the capital of Michoacán from Tzintzuntzan to Pátzcuaro, thus gradually diminishing its importance as a seat of political power.
