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MORELIA (formerly Valladolid)

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Originally appearing in Volume V18, Page 828 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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MORELIA (formerly See also:Valladolid) , a See also:city of See also:Mexico and See also:capital of the See also:state of See also:Michoacan, 125 M. See also:direct and 234 M. by See also:rail W. by N. of the city of Mexico, near the See also:southern margin of the See also:great Mexican See also:plateau, 6398 ft. above See also:sea-level, in See also:lat. '1)°42' N. See also:long., too° J4' W. Pop. (1900), 37,278, partly Indiansand mestizos. Morelia is served by a See also:branch of the Mexican See also:National railway; its station is outside the city, with which it is connected by a small See also:tramway See also:line. The city is built on a rocky See also:hill rising from the Guayangareo valley, which gives to it a strikingly picturesque See also:appearance. It has the usual rectangular See also:plan, with several See also:pretty squares and straight, clean, well-paved streets. Facing the plaza See also:mayor, now called the Plaza de los Martfres because of the See also:execution there of the patriot See also:Matamoros in 1814, is the See also:cathedral, one of the finest specimens of the old See also:Spanish See also:renaissance See also:church See also:architecture in Mexico. Among its interior adornments is an See also:onyx See also:font, some See also:fine See also:wood See also:carving in the See also:choir, and the See also:silver doors to the shrines of its chapels. Opposite the cathedral is the See also:government See also:palace, which also contains the public library. The municipal government is. housed in an See also:ancient See also:tobacco factory converted to public uses, and a fine old Capuchin See also:convent now serves as a public See also:hospital. The Paseo, or public See also:park, is distinguished for its fine trees and See also:flowers.

The Morelianos are noted for their love of See also:

music, and musical competitions are held each See also:year, the best See also:band being sent to the city of Mexico to compete with similar organizations from other states. The public See also:water-See also:supply is brought into the city over a fine old See also:aqueduct (3 m. in length, carried on See also:arches), which was built in X785 by the See also:bishop of the See also:diocese as a See also:famine See also:relief See also:work. In See also:common with the state of Michoacan, Morelia is a stronghold of clericalism and conservatism. A large number of private See also:schools are maintained through Church See also:influence in opposition to the public schools. Conspicuous among these is a large girls' school. Another institution is the See also:college of See also:San See also:Nicolas de See also: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 See also:local college, and was rebuilt in 1882. It is the See also:oldest existing collegiate institution in Mexico; in it Hidalgo once taught and See also:Morelos was a student. The city's manufactures include See also:cotton, woollen and See also: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 See also:Viceroy See also:Mendoza. In 1582 Valladolid replaced Patzcuaro as the capital of Michoacan. It was the birthplace of both Morelos and See also:Iturbide, and was captured by Hidalgo at the beginning of the revolutionary outbreak of 1810—1 1, and by Iturbide in 1821 when on his See also:march to Mexico City, where he was crowned See also:emperor. Its name was changed to Morelia in 1828, in See also:honour of the revolutionary See also:leader Jose Maria Morelos y Pav6n, and in 1863 it was made the see of an See also:archbishop.

End of Article: MORELIA (formerly Valladolid)

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MORELL, JOHN DANIEL (1816-1891)

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