Cuitzeo
| Cuitzeo | |
|---|---|
| Town & Municipality | |
| Cuitzeo del Porvenir | |
Church and former monastery of Santa María Magdalena
|
|
| Coordinates: 19°58′07″N 101°08′22″W / 19.96861°N 101.13944°WCoordinates: 19°58′07″N 101°08′22″W / 19.96861°N 101.13944°W | |
| Country |
 Mexico
|
| State | Michoacán |
| Founded | 1550 |
| Government | |
| • Municipal President | Fernando Alvarado Rangel |
| Population (2010)Municipality | |
| • Municipality | 28,227 |
| • Seat | 8,760 |
| Time zone | CST (UTC-6) |
| Website | Official site |
Cuitzeo (Spanish 
[kwitse'o] ) (full name Cuitzeo del Porvenir) is a town and municipality located in the north of the Mexican state of Michoacán. It is located in a relatively flat depression around Lake Cuitzeo, a large, very shallow lake, which is in danger of disappearing. The town was officially founded in 1550, with the founding of a large Augustinian monastery, which still stands. Today, the town is the seat of a rural municipality, providing local government to surrounding communities.
The town of Cuitzeo is located just over thirty km north of Morelia, on the north shore of Lake Cuitzeo. It is a quiet, rural town, with narrow streets and buildings of white facades with thatched or tile roofs. The streets are mostly traveled by people and pack animals and most of the ambient noise comes from birds in overhead trees, especially in the main plaza. Its main activities are agriculture, livestock, commerce and fishing with a population of 8,760 (2010) .
The main structure in the town is the former Santa María Magdalena monastery complex located to one side of the main plaza. The complex consists of a church, cloister, garden and open chapel. Its main attraction is its Plateresque facade, with carvings of Spanish royal arms, Christian symbolism, Augustinian insignia and indigenous imagery, reflecting that the monastery was one of the most sumptuous of its time. Its style is influenced that the church front at Acolman, but it is larger and more imposing. The design and carving of the façade is attributed to a Purépecha craftsman named Juan Metl, whose signature is found inscribed on an ornamental plaque beside the main entrance. It is the only example of this from early colonial Mexico. Another important aspect of the exterior is the open chapel, which is elaborately framed, located behind the portería of the monastery complex. It contains a well preserved 16th century fresco of the Last Judgment and a 17th-century mural of a crucified friar, which may be Antonio de Roa.
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Wikipedia