Tzintzuntzan (Mesoamerican Site)

Tzintzuntzan (Mesoamerican Site)

Tzintzuntzan was the ceremonial center of the pre-Columbian Tarascan state capital of the same name. The name comes from the P'urhépecha word Ts’intsuntsani, which means "place of hummingbirds". After being in Pátzcuaro for the first years of the Tarascan 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 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 “yacatas” were destroyed and the city almost completely abandoned. Due to lack of interest in the old P’urhépecha dominion, excavation of this site did not begin until the 1930s. Its largest construction are the five yacata pyramids, which line up looking out over Lake Pátzcuaro. The other is the large Grand Platform excavated into the hillside on which the yacatas and other buildings rest. Today the site is still used for events such as the Festival Cultural de Fin de Año.