MORELIA (formerly Valladolid)

This article appears in Volume V18, Page 828 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

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MORELIA (formerly Valladolid) , a city of

Mexico

and

capital

CAPITAL (i.e. capital stock or fund)
CAPITAL (Lat. caput, head)

of the state of Michoacan, 125 M. direct and 234 M. by rail W. by N. of the city of

Mexico

, near the southern margin of the great Mexican plateau, 6398 ft. above sea-level, in lat. '1)42' N. long., too J4' W. Pop. (1900), 37,278, partly Indiansand mestizos. Morelia is served by a branch of the Mexican National railway; its station is outside the city, with which it is connected by a small tramway line. The city is built on a rocky hill rising from the Guayangareo valley, which gives to it a strikingly picturesque appearance. It has the usual rectangular plan, with several pretty squares and straight, clean, well-paved streets. Facing the plaza mayor, now called the Plaza de los Martfres because of the execution there of the patriot Matamoros in 1814, is the cathedral, one of the finest specimens of the old Spanish renaissance church architecture in Mexico.
Among its interior adornments is an onyx font, some fine

wood

carving in the choir, and the silver doors to the shrines of its chapels. Opposite the cathedral is the government palace, which also contains the public library. The municipal government is. housed in an ancient tobacco factory converted to public uses, and a fine old Capuchin convent now serves as a public

hospital

. The Paseo, or public park, is distinguished for its fine trees and

flowers

FLOWERS, ARTIFICIAL

. The Morelianos are noted for their love of music, and musical competitions are held each year, the best band being sent to the city of Mexico to compete with similar organizations from other states. The public water-

supply

SUPPLY (through Fr. from Lat. supplere, to fill up)

is brought into the city over a fine old aqueduct (3 m. in length, carried on arches), which was built in X785 by the bishop of the diocese as a famine relief work. In common with the state of Michoacan, Morelia is a stronghold of clericalism and conservatism. A large number of private schools are maintained through Church influence in opposition to the public schools. Conspicuous among these is a large girls' school. Another institution is the college of San Nicolas de Hidalgo, which was founded at Patzcuaro in 1540 by Bishop Quiroga (who had been sent into Michoacan to redress the wrongs committed by Nuno de Guzman), was removed to Valladolid (Morelia) a few years later to be combined with a local college, and was rebuilt in 1882. It is the oldest existing collegiate institution in Mexico; in it Hidalgo once taught and Morelos was a student. The city's manufactures include

cotton

, woollen and silk textiles, cigars and cigarettes, and dulces, or sweetmeats, Morelia being noted throughout Mexico for the latter, particularly for a variety called Guayabate.
Morelia, first known as Valladolid, was founded in 1541 by Viceroy Mendoza. In 1582 Valladolid replaced Patzcuaro as the

capital

CAPITAL (i.e. capital stock or fund)
CAPITAL (Lat. caput, head)

of Michoacan. It was the birthplace of both Morelos and

Iturbide

ITURBIDE (or YTURBIDE), AUGUSTIN DE (1783-1824)

, and was captured by Hidalgo at the beginning of the revolutionary outbreak of 18101 1, and by

Iturbide

ITURBIDE (or YTURBIDE), AUGUSTIN DE (1783-1824)

in 1821 when on his march to Mexico City, where he was crowned emperor. Its name was changed to Morelia in 1828, in honour of the revolutionary leader Jose Maria Morelos y Pav6n, and in 1863 it was made the see of an archbishop.

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