More than anywhere in the Michoacan state, Patzcuaro owes its position to Bishop Vasco de Quiroga, whose affection for the area’s indigenous peoples led him to settle in the Purépechan heartland on the shores of Lago de Pátzcuaro. It was he who decided, in the face of considerable opposition from the Spaniards in Morelia (then known as Valladolid), to build the cathedral here, where it would be centrally located. Although subsequent bishops moved the seat of power back to Morelia, the foundation had been laid for the community’s continued success. Patzcuaro enjoyed a building boom in the sixteenth century and has been of secondary industrial and political importance ever since. Throughout the centre are old mansions with balconies and coats of arms, barely touched since those early years. Today, quaint Patzcuaro has developed into an upmarket and artistically inclined town with numerous boutiques. You can spend hours wandering around the beautiful arts, crafts and antique shops, aimed mainly at visitors from Mexico City and abroad.

Nothing much worth seeing in Pátzcuaro lies more than a few minutes’ walk from Plaza Gertrudis Bocanegra, named after a local Independence heroine, and Plaza Vasco de Quiroga. The finest of Pátzcuaro’s mansions are on the latter, especially the seventeenth-century Casa del Gigante, with its hefty pillars and crudely carved figures. Another nearby mansion is said to have been inhabited by Prince Huitzimengari, son of the last Tarascan king. Both are privately owned, however, and not open to visitors. There are more luxurious houses on the Plaza Bocanegra, but the most striking thing around here is the Biblioteca (Mon–Fri 9am–7pm, Sat 10am–1pm), with its rough-hewn wooden barrel ceiling. The former sixteenth-century church of San Agustín, it has been converted into a library and decorated with murals by Juan O’Gorman depicting the history of Michoacán, especially Nuño de Guzman burning alive the leader of the Tarascans. O’Gorman (1905–82) possessed a prodigious talent, and is one of the muralists who inherited the mantle of Rivera and Orozco: his best-known work is the decoration of the interior of Chapultepec Castle in Mexico City.

East of the Plaza Bocanegra, Quiroga’s cathedral the Basílica de Nuestra Señora de la Salud, or Colegiata was intended by Quiroga to be Pátzcuaro’s masterpiece, with space for 30,000 worshippers. A massive structure for such a small town, it was never completed, and the existing basilica, finished in the nineteenth century, is only the nave of the original design. Even so, it is often full, for local people continue to revere Quiroga: the first chapel on the left as you walk in the main entrance is the Mausoleo de Don Vasco, the doors typically closed and adorned with notes of thanks for his miraculous interventions. The church also possesses a miraculous healing image of the Virgin, crafted in a traditional Tarascan method out of pasta de caña, a gum-like modelling paste made principally from maize. Services here are extraordinary, especially for the town’s patron saint, the Virgin de la Salud, on December 8. A twenty-minute walk east along Serrato is El Humilladero (“the place of humiliation”), probably the oldest church in Patzcuaro. It stands on the site where the last Tarascan king, Tanganxoan II, accepted Spanish authority. Such a tag may seem appropriate with hindsight, though a more charitable view suggests that Tanganxoan was simply hoping to save his people from the slaughter that had accompanied resistance to the Spaniards elsewhere. The church itself, pretty enough, is often closed.

The Day of the Dead (Nov 1, and through the night into the next day) is celebrated in spectacular fashion throughout Mexico, but nowhere more so than on Lago de Pátzcuaro, particularly the island of Janitzio. On this night, the locals conduct what is an essentially private meditation, carrying offerings of fruit and flowers to the cemetery and maintaining a vigil over the graves of their ancestors until dawn, chanting by candlelight. Death is considered a continuation of life, and this is the time when the souls of muertitos (deceased loved ones) return to the land of the living. It’s a spectacular and moving sight, especially early in the evening as indigenous people from the surrounding area converge on the island in their canoes, with a single candle burning in each bow. Impressive and solemn though the occasion is, over the years the occasion has become somewhat marred by its sheer press of spectators, both Mexican and foreign. Thousands head over to tiny Janitzio, and from around 10pm on Nov 1 until around 3am the following morning you can hardly move, especially in the cemetery where the vigil takes place amid a riot of marigolds and candles. If you can manage it, stay up all night and return to the cemetery around 5am when it is quiet and the first hint of dawn lightens the eastern sky. Alternatively, head to one of the other lakeside communities marking the Day of the Dead Tzurumutaro, Ihuatzio, Cucuchucho or Tzintzuntzán.

The Museo de Artes Populares, at the corner of Quiroga and Lerin, south of the basilica (Tues–Fri 9am–6pm, Sat & Sun 9am–4.30pm), occupies the ancient Colegio de San Nicolas. Founded by Quiroga in 1540, the college is now devoted to a superb collection of regional handicrafts: local lacquerware and pottery; copperware from Santa Clara del Cobre; and traditional masks and religious objects made from pasta de caña, which, apart from being easy to work with, is also very light, and hence easily carried in processions. Some of the objects on display are ancient, others the best examples of modern work, and all are set in a very beautiful building. Almost opposite, the church of La Compañía was built by Quiroga in 1546 and later taken over by the Jesuits. A short walk south of the art museum on Lerin, the Casa de los Once Patios (daily 10am–7pm) is an eighteenth-century convent converted into a crafts showhouse, full of workshops and moderate to expensive boutiques. As its name suggests, the complex is set around a series of tiny courtyards, and it’s a fascinating place to stroll through even if you can’t afford the goods. You can watch restored treadle looms at work, admire the intricacy with which the best lacquerware is created and wander at liberty through the warren of rooms and corridors. The best views of Lago de Pátzcuaro are found east of town along the road to the Cerro del Estribo: head out along Terán past the Templo San Francisco. It is about a kilometre from here to the Cerro del Calvario, a tiny hill topped by the little chapel of El Calvario. You won’t be able to see much from the chapel, so take the road to the right just before you reach it and continue on along a cobbled, cypress-lined avenue. You’ll climb over 200m in the next 3km to a viewpoint with great vistas over Lago de Pátzcuaro and Janitzio. From the viewpoint, 417 steps lead straight up to the very summit of Cerro del Estribo (Stirrup Hill), though the views are no better.

Apart from the beautiful town itself, Patzcuaro’s other great attraction is Lago de Pátzcuaro. It’s around 4km down to the jetty (follow the “embarcadero” signs), while buses and minibuses leave from the Plaza Bocanegra. Those marked “Lago” will drop you right by the boats. The lake itself was once a major thoroughfare, but that role has declined since the completion of roads linking the lakeside villages a few years back. Most locals now take the bus rather than paddle around the water in canoes, but there is still a fair amount of traffic and regular trips out to the closest island, Janitzio. There isn’t a great deal to see or do on the other islands in the lake, with the exception of Isla Yunuén, where you can stay in the rustic Cabañas de Yunuén, each with a small kitchen and TV. A boat makes trips to the island from the Muelle General (main dock area) in Pátzcuaro. The lake’s other draw is the chance to see and photograph the famous butterfly nets wielded by indigenous fishermen in tiny dug-out canoes.

From a distance, the island of Janitzio looks quaint. Still, it is worth the journey if only for the opportunity to spend some time on the lake and for the expansive views from the top of the island. From the dock, head straight up one of the many alleys that climb steeply between assorted fish restaurants (generally better away from the dock) and tacky souvenir stalls to the summit, which are crowned by an 49-metre-statue of Morelos. Ascend the spiral staircase inside (typically daily 8am–7pm), past murals depicting Morelos’s life and the struggle for independence, to the viewpoint right by his upraised, clenched fist. If heights make you queasy, there’s a pleasant path that encircles the island running around the lakeshore. It takes about thirty minutes to make a full circuit. Fares to the island from Pátzcuaro’s Muelle General (main dock area) are fixed. Seventy-seat lanchas make the stately, half-hour crossing (daily 7am–7pm; every 15min).