Ciudad Hidalgo, Michoacán

Ciudad Hidalgo Taximaroa
City & Municipality
Main plaza and 5 de Mayo Street
Ciudad Hidalgo Location in Mexico
Coordinates: 19°41′30″N 100°33′13″W / 19.69167°N 100.55361°W / 19.69167; -100.55361Coordinates: 19°41′30″N 100°33′13″W / 19.69167°N 100.55361°W / 19.69167; -100.55361
Country	Mexico
State	Michoacán
Founded	1531 (Spanish settlement)
Municipal Status	1831
Government
• Municipal President	Rubén Padilla Soto
Area
• Municipality	1,063.06 km2 (410.45 sq mi)
Elevation (of seat)	2,060 m (6,760 ft)
Population (2005) Municipality
• Municipality	110,311
• Seat	57,773
Time zone	CST (UTC-6)
Postal code (of seat)	61100
Website	(Spanish) Web site

Ciudad Hidalgo, or simply Hidalgo, is a city and municipality in the far northeast of the state of Michoacán, Mexico. It is a city located in a rural, mountainous area. While most of the city consists of modern buildings, its principal monument is the 16th-century church and former monastery of San José. Formerly, its name was Taximaroa, and it was the part of the Purépecha Empire closest to the Aztec Empire. This prompted two unsuccessful Aztec invasions as well as the first Spanish incursion into Purépecha lands in 1522. For both the city and rural communities around it, forestry and furniture making are important parts of the economy, but deforestation is forcing the area to look into alternatives such as tourism to take advantage of its natural resources and cultural sites.

Today, the city has mostly modern construction and streets, as one of Michoacán’s ten principal municipalities. However, it retains some of its rural character, especially economically. The city holds an annual fair dedicated to preserved fruits and vegetables during Holy Week, featuring home-made preserves of fruits and vegetables. Foods of this type have been made in this area since the beginning of the 20th century. The city is also host to the largest furniture exposition in Michoacán, the Expo Mueble and the Expo Feria de Todos los Santos is related to Day of the Dead and All Saints Day.

Its principal monument is a 16th-century church with a former monastery. It conserves its atrium and original monolithic atrium cross sculpted by indigenous hands. This cross rests on a pyramidical base with a skull and bones. It also contains the coat of arms of the Franciscan order. The pyramidical base and skulls display an indigenous influence, as does the obsidian mirror located on the cross itself which was the symbol of the god Tezcatlipoca (god with the sacrificed foot) who was worshiped by both the Aztecs and the Purépecha. The church contains two notable baptismal fonts. The larger one may have been the basin of a pre-Hispanic public fountain from the 16th century. It is decorated with small angels and stylized lions. There are also letters on the rim of the font, but they do not spell out words. Tradition says they were used to teach literacy. The smaller font is monolithic and contains the image of a small nude angel in Renaissance style but with some medieval aspects.