Morelia tourist information

Morelia is the capital of the Mexican state of Michoacán. The city is located in the region of the Guayangareo valley, surrounded by the Punhuato and Quinceo hills. The city is the biggest in the state, and the population of the conurbated area was 621,022 people (608,049 of Morelia city, and 12,973 of Morelos Town), according to the Segundo Conteo de Población y Vivienda (2005).

The city's Historic Downtown Area is a UN designated World Heritage Site, and houses many beautiful colonial buildings and churches.

The Historic Downtown Area (Centro Histórico) encompasses approximately 150 city blocks at the city center, roughly corresponding to the urban area of the city at the end of the eighteenth century. The Centro Historico contains over 1,000 historical buildings and sites. One of the main attractions is the Catedral de Morelia, a cathedral built in the Baroque style. Also interesting is the Casa del Arte where you can find a large variety of high quality artisanal works. There are several other notable historical churches in town including the Templo de las Rosas annex to the Conservatorio de las Rosas, which are both examples of baroque architecture, and the Templo de San Diego (also known as Santuario de Guadalupe), built with an interpretation of the Rococo style using indigenous colors and techniques. The monumental aqueduct, built in colonial days to bring water into town, was functional through 1910. The inner city is built of reddish sandstone, lending the city a unique character among Mexico's many noteworthy colonial cities and giving origing to the name "Ciudad de las Canteras Rosas" that is sometimes used in reference to Morelia.

Morelia has three golf coureses, the first one "Club Campestre de Morelia" founded in 1968, witch is a 9 hole with great difficulty because of very large trees and beautifull lakes. The second one is "Tres Marias", a 27 hole Jack Nicklaus design golf course that hostes the LPGA once a year. Third and last is "Club Erandeni", who recently opened its fairways to the public.

At the southern edge of the city is the Santa Maria mountain range, and is home to upscale residential districts, private sector schools and universities. The main university is the Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, founded in 1551 under the name of Colegio de San Nicolás by Vasco de Quiroga, first bishop of Michoacán, and is one of the oldest universities in America, and one of the most important public universities of Mexico.

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