Morelia was founded in 1540 and is the capital of the Mexican state of Michoacán It is possibly the most authentic Spanish-colonial city in Mexico.

Architectural restrictions have been in place since the 1800's to insure that any remodeling or new structures fit in with the architecture common in the area 300 years earlier.

You will be in a place free of neon ads, light signs. The commercial signs are made of wood in this distiguish town.

The streets of Morelia are defined for the most part for their continuing lines of houses, although every here and there lies the majestic churches and palaces of chiselled cantera stone. But domestic home construction forms the major part of the landscape of urban Valladolid, giving the city this typical character.

Before the city was founded the Franciscans established a convent with hopes of evangelizing the indian population. San Francisco, an exconvent in downtown Morelia, now houses the state’s Casa de Artesanias.

Its interior design is typical of convent construction of the sixteenth century and includes an atrium, the school, a temple, an open chapel and outside on the property was expansive orchards. Also established in the same manner were the convents San Augustin and The Order of Carman which expanded the city, creating a typically Spanish, regal, colonial countryside with grand church properties bordered by their long green hedges.