Where to Stay in Morelia, Estado de Michoacán de Ocampo

What is Morelia known for?

Street after street of grand colonial churches, palaces, and arcades rise in the warm rose-coloured stone of the region, crowned by a vast twin-towered cathedral, and a long arched aqueduct marches into the centre. The old lanes glow at dusk. Stone and arches mark the city.

What are the main landmarks in Morelia?

The Morelia Cathedral towers over the old town. Its twin pink-stone towers, among the tallest in Mexico, rise above the main plaza, the emblem of the city, in the heart of the centre. Arches and museums fill the streets.

The long aqueduct marches in on its rows of arches, while the Palacio Clavijero and the Museo Regional Michoacano keep the story of the town.

What is the history of Morelia?

Morelia was founded as a Spanish city on the highlands. The Spanish laid out the town, first called Valladolid, in the sixteenth century on a ridge above the valley, and built it grandly in the pink volcanic stone of the region, with a great cathedral and long straight streets. Water came by a great aqueduct.

In the eighteenth century the town raised a line of arches over a mile long to carry water to the centre, one of the finest in the land. The city gave its name to a hero. A leader of the fight for Mexican independence, José María Morelos, was born here, and after freedom came the town took his name to honour him.

The old stone city was preserved. Morelia kept its colonial heart of churches, plazas, and palaces intact, and its old town was named a treasure of the world. The pink stone still glows in the sun.

Morelia guards its arches and its cathedral in the Michoacán hills.

Where is Morelia?

Morelia lies in a green valley of the highlands of Michoacán. The city sits on a mile-high plateau among pine hills and lakes in central Mexico, where the land is cool and fertile. Wooded ridges ring the valley.

The highland plain rolls away to the hills.

What is the climate of Morelia?

Morelia has a mild highland climate. The high plateau keeps the city warm by day and cool at night all year, and the summer brings afternoon rains that green the hills, while the winters stay dry. Storms roll over the valley in summer.

The upland air stays fresh and mild.

How do you get to Morelia?

Morelia lies in the highlands west of Mexico City. A toll highway and rail line run to it over the mountains from the capital and toward Guadalajara, and the city has its own airport. Buses reach the highland towns around.

Most arrive by road over the hills.