Wednesday, August 06, 2008

Activarte - free tours of Patzcuaro

Activarte - free tours of historical places in Patzcuaro
Posted by Georgia Conti

Thanks to Lorraine and David Mull who invited us to experience Activarte last Saturday evening. We've mentioned this group to several individuals who had not heard about them, so I thought I'd share information from their flyer.

Activarte is a group of young Mexicans who want to instill an interest and love of local history and art. It appears the primary leader is a professor of architecture, and he's joined by others who are in costume. They meet in front of the monument of Don Vasco de Quiroga in Plaza Grande at 20:30 on Saturday evenings and then proceed on a walking tour to famous places and monuments. At each site, they explain the history and/or act out a scene. Tho' in Spanish, I was able to understand enough to make the evening enjoyable and worthwhile. If you are not conversant in Spanish, you might invite someone along who can translate. We were pleased to support their efforts while being introduced to places in Patzcuaro we hadn't noticed before. And, we weren't alone: we estimated 100 people were in the group! While a few were from other cities in Mexico and Latin American countries and one couple hailed from Spain, more than half were from the Patzcuaro
area.

These tours are free and open to the public. No RSVP needed - just show up at the statue and watch for the costumed individuals with colorful flags. Bring an umbrella in case it rains!

There are two routes, which are visited on alternating weeks. The next outings are August 9 (Route A) and 16 (Route B). Route A goes to Sagrario, Casa de los 11 Patios, Pila de San Miguel, Casa de la Real Aduana, Hospitalito, Plaza Vasco de Quiroga. Route B goes to Casa de los Escudos, Pila del Torito, Plaza Bocanegra, Bibioteca, Basilica, Museo, Colegio Jesuita, Casa del Gigante. I hope they continue beyond these dates. They started in July, perhaps as a trial to see if anyone would be interested.

You'll also find these outings and others on the yahoo calendar that David has established for us. Check it out.

From the Yahoo Group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Michoacan_net/

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Patzcuaro is the ex-capital of Michoacan and before that was Tzintzuntzan, a small town nearby dating to the Purhépecha empire in the 1300's. The museum in Patzcuaro is finding ruins in it's back yard that predates history and they are believed to be earlier than the history of Tzintzuntzan. The Purhépecha were one of the indigenous tribes that were not conquered by the Aztecs

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