Mexico/Michoacan: Patzcuaro
The town of Patzcuaro was founded in pre-Colombian times around 1320 and was the capital of the Tarascan state. When the Spanish arrived n 1540, they made Patzcuaro the capital of the New Spain’s province of Michoacán, but it was soon replaced in grandeur by Morelia and moved there. Patzcuaro hs a feel of a colonial town that’s slowly fading away, in a beautiful kind of way. The colors of buildings and structure of historic buildings is a bit worn out, faded, and crumbling. The city is much less crowded then Morelia and is actually much more pleasant and enjoyable – all the houses in are made of adobe and wood with tiles roofs, the streets are all cobblestone streets, and the only vendors are either local food markets with traditional foods or local artisans. There is the Plaza Grande in the middle, Basilica of Nuestra Señora de la Salud a few blocks away, beautiful Museo de Artes, amazing Templo Sagrario, and Templo de San Francisco. And a lot of restaurants around the Plaza Grande