Tzintzuntzan (Mesoamerican site)

Tzintzuntzan was the ceremonial center of the pre-Columbian Tarascan state capital of the same name. The name comes from the Purépecha word Ts’intsuntsani, which means "place of hummingbirds". After being in Pátzcuaro for the first years of the Purépecha Empire, power was consolidated in Tzintzuntzan in the mid 15th century. The empire continued to grow and hold off attacks by the neighboring Aztec Empire, until the Spanish arrived. Not wanting to suffer the destruction that the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan did, the emperor in this city surrendered to the Spanish. Eventually, much of the site and especially its distinct five rounded pyramids called yácatas were destroyed and the city almost completely abandoned. Due to lack of interest in the old Purépecha dominion, excavation of this site did not begin until the 1930s. Its largest construction are the five yácata pyramids, which line up looking out over Lake Pátzcuaro. The other is the large Grand Platform excavated into the hillside on which the yácatas and other buildings rest. Today the site is still used for events such as the Festival Cultural de Fin de Año.

Tzintzuntzan was the capital of the Purépecha Empire when the Spanish arrived in 1522. As these people did not leave written records, what we know of this city and its empire come from Spanish writings and archeological evidence. The main Spanish document is called the Relación de las ceremonias y ritos población y gobierno de los indios de Michoacán, written by Jerónimo de Alcalá based on what he was told by the Purépecha elite in 1539. Other writings that refer to the capital include Hernán Cortés’ fourth letter in 1524, “La información de Don Vasco de Quiroga, sobre el asiento de su iglesia Catedral,” from 1538, “Tratado curioso y doctor de las cosas de la Nueva España” by Antonio de la Ciudad Real in 1590, “Relaciones goegráficas; las Crónica de la orden de Nuestro Seráfico Padre San Francisco, provincia de San Pedro y San Pablo de Mechoacan in la Nueva España” by Alonso de la Rea in the 17th century and the “Crónica de la provincia de los santos apóstoles San Pedro y San Pablo de Michoacán” by Pablo Beaumont.

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Wikipedia