HOME Travel Guide Common Sense Travel
decorative font style

Discover Morelia: Mexico's Historic Gem & UNESCO World Heritage

Morelia, know the treasures of this place

 

The capital of the state of Michoacán boasts spectacular beauty, so it wasn’t surprising it was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1991. Morelia is unique, from the moment you walk through its Historical Center framed by colonial buildings of pink stone. You can admire some of its magnificent 16th century Baroque buildings, when it was founded by Spanish settlers.

 

The city was originally called Valladolid, but its name was changed in 1828 honoring José María Morelos y Pavón, Mexican Independence Movement heroe born in this beautiful city. It is highly recommended to walk along the Calzada de Guadalupe, since you will be able to admire close up several of the monuments catalogued as architectural masterpieces. In fact, the Historical Center of Morelia is the site with the most buildings named as such throughout the Mexican territory.

 

Morelia combines the elements of a destination that every expert traveler is looking for: incredible landscapes both urban and natural, historical wealth, legends that remain alive, gastronomic variety and architecture that mesmerizes everyone who observes it. You will definitely feel that you are frozen in time in this city that will remind you of the enchanted castles of the fairy tales you used to read before bedtime as a child.

 

If you travel by land from México City, the estimated time to Morelia is four hours; from Toluca in the State of Mexico it would take three hours. From Celaya, in Guanajuato, an hour with 50 minutes. Once in Morelia is advisable to visit Pátzcuaro, Janitzio and Santa Clara del Cobre.


Tourist Attraction
  • Christmas in Salem House Tour: A Magical Holiday Tradition

    by Anne Sterling When Destination Salem asked me to write about a favorite Salem event, the annual Christmas in Salem House Tour immediately sprang to mind. My memory draws me back to my first tour in December of 2003, when Salem was pummeled by a powerful snowstorm that lasted three days and postponed the second day of the tour. Being a December baby, I was delighted th

  • Doug Aitken s MIRROR: Stunning Art Installation Unveiled in Downtown Seattle

    A rendering of Doug Aitken’s MIRROR at Seattle Art Museum Picture this:  1000+ people gathered along a closed-off First Avenue between Union and University Streets in downtown Seattle, on a crisp March evening, awaiting a slightly delayed art installation unveiling because of……excess sunshine. Yep, that was the scene on Sunday night March 24. I and about 1000 of my new pals were gathered to witness the premiere of Doug Aitken’s new MIRROR artwork on the side of Seattle Art Museum. But

  • Amguid Crater: Unveiling the Sahara’s Ancient Impact Site

    In a remote region of the Sahara Desert, an impact crater was punched into the land less than 100,000 years ago. Measuring some 500 meters (1,640 feet) wide and about 70 meters (230 feet) deep, the Amguid Crater is located in southwestern Algeria. On satellite imagery, the white spot of the flat, sandy crater floor is clearly visible; the residue formed by millennia of sporadic rain running into the bowl and evaporating. The first known record of the Amguid crate