Erongarícuaro
Encyclopedia
Erongarícuaro, which means "Place of waiting" in the Purepecha language, is a town in the Mexican state of Michoacán
. It is located about an hour and a half drive to Morelia
or Uruapan
and just 20 minutes from the famous colonial town of Pátzcuaro
. The estimated population is about 5,000 people.
at 2,200 m (7,130 feet) of elevation. To the East is Lake Pátzcuaro
, one of Mexico
's highest lakes.
The town retains its ancient atmosphere. It consists of largely one-story adobe
or plaster-over-brick buildings with red tile roofs. The streets are dusty cobblestones traveled by horse and car. The plaza has a fountain, stage and amazing collection of trees.
Wandering the streets uphill, there is a cemetery and a chapel.
Except for early evening there is always food on the plaza. Food in the evening would be "atole"(hot beverage) with "buñuelos" (light fried pastries)or with tamales.
During Mexico's postwar art scene:
Current artists:
Michoacán
Michoacán officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Michoacán de Ocampo is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 113 municipalities and its capital city is Morelia...
. It is located about an hour and a half drive to Morelia
Morelia
Morelia is a city and municipality in the north central part of the state of Michoacán in central Mexico. The city is in the Guayangareo Valley and is the capital of the state. The main pre-Hispanic cultures here were the P'urhépecha and the Matlatzinca, but no major cities were founded in the...
or Uruapan
Uruapan
Uruapan is a city and municipality in the west-central part of the Mexican state of Michoacán. The city is the municipal seat of the municipality...
and just 20 minutes from the famous colonial town of Pátzcuaro
Pátzcuaro
Pátzcuaro is a large town and municipality located in the state of Michoacán. The town was founded sometime in the 1320s, at first becoming the capital of the Tarascan state and later its ceremonial center...
. The estimated population is about 5,000 people.
The town
Erongarícuaro is hidden high in the mountains of MichoacánMichoacán
Michoacán officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Michoacán de Ocampo is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 113 municipalities and its capital city is Morelia...
at 2,200 m (7,130 feet) of elevation. To the East is Lake Pátzcuaro
Lake Pátzcuaro
Lake Pátzcuaro is a lake in the municipality of Pátzcuaro, Michoacán, Mexico.The natives believe that the lake is the place where the barrier between life and death is the thinnest....
, one of Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
's highest lakes.
The town retains its ancient atmosphere. It consists of largely one-story adobe
Adobe
Adobe is a natural building material made from sand, clay, water, and some kind of fibrous or organic material , which the builders shape into bricks using frames and dry in the sun. Adobe buildings are similar to cob and mudbrick buildings. Adobe structures are extremely durable, and account for...
or plaster-over-brick buildings with red tile roofs. The streets are dusty cobblestones traveled by horse and car. The plaza has a fountain, stage and amazing collection of trees.
Wandering the streets uphill, there is a cemetery and a chapel.
Food
The nieve (ice cream), sold in shops on the plaza, is a delightful treat. There are many different flavors, made with water or with cream. Combinations of flavors add variety and taste. One of the most popular flavors is called pasta (paste). Popsicles made from exotic fruits make a pleasant taste adventure.Except for early evening there is always food on the plaza. Food in the evening would be "atole"(hot beverage) with "buñuelos" (light fried pastries)or with tamales.
Notable residents of Eronga
- Lázaro CárdenasLázaro CárdenasLázaro Cárdenas del Río was President of Mexico from 1934 to 1940.-Early life:Lázaro Cárdenas was born on May 21, 1895 in a lower-middle class family in the village of Jiquilpan, Michoacán. He supported his family from age 16 after the death of his father...
The popular leftist President of Mexico, was rumored to take his boat across the lake where no road reached. He began from his large mansion in PatzcuaroPátzcuaroPátzcuaro is a large town and municipality located in the state of Michoacán. The town was founded sometime in the 1320s, at first becoming the capital of the Tarascan state and later its ceremonial center...
, which now houses CREFAL http://tariacuri.crefal.edu.mx/crefal/ and upon reaching Erongarícuaro was free to attend fiestas with his friends Victoria and Guadalupe Rodríguez in Casa Las Rosas. The president arranged for the two young women, who were singers of some note on local radio and in local concerts, to attend music and voice classes at Bellas Artes in Mexico City, but their conservative father refused to let them, saying that, "A young woman´s place is in the home." Victoria came to be the town's mayor—the only female mayor in the history of the town—and her sister Guadalupe was the town's postmistress. The post office was in the entrance of the house. Victoria later married Ralph Gray, a US American painter who came to the town in the late 1940s.
During Mexico's postwar art scene:
- Trotsky, Frida KahloFrida KahloFrida Kahlo de Rivera was a Mexican painter, born in Coyoacán, and perhaps best known for her self-portraits....
, Diego RiveraDiego RiveraDiego María de la Concepción Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de la Rivera y Barrientos Acosta y Rodríguez was a prominent Mexican painter born in Guanajuato, Guanajuato, an active communist, and husband of Frida Kahlo . His large wall works in fresco helped establish the Mexican Mural Movement in...
, Jean CharlotJean CharlotLouis Henri Jean Charlot was a French painter and illustrator, active in Mexico and the United States. Charlot was born in Paris. His father, Henri, owned an import-export business and was a Russian-born émigré, albeit one who supported the Bolshevik cause. His mother Anna was herself an artist...
, André BretonAndré BretonAndré Breton was a French writer and poet. He is known best as the founder of Surrealism. His writings include the first Surrealist Manifesto of 1924, in which he defined surrealism as "pure psychic automatism"....
. - Roberto MattaRoberto MattaRoberto Sebastián Antonio Matta Echaurren , better known as Roberto Matta, was one of Chile's best-known painters and a seminal figure in 20th century abstract expressionist and surrealist art....
, Remedios VaroRemedios VaroRemedios Varo Uranga was a Spanish-Mexican, para-surrealist painter and anarchist. She was born María de los Remedios Varo Uranga in Anglès, Girona, Spain in 1908. During the Spanish Civil War she fled to Paris where she was greatly influenced by the surrealist movement...
, Esteban Francis, Pierre Mabille, Benjamin PéretBenjamin PéretBenjamin Péret was a French poet, Parisian Dadaist and a founder and central member of the French Surrealist movement with his avid use of Surrealist automatism.-Biography:... - Gordon Onslow FordGordon Onslow FordGordon Onslow Ford was one of the last surviving members of the 1930s Paris surrealist group surrounding André Breton....
and his wife Jacqueline Johnson, an American writer. - Peruvian poet César MoroCésar MoroCésar Moro is the pseudonym of Alfredo Quíspez Asín a Peruvian born poet and painter. He travelled to Paris in 1925 and most of his poetic works are written in French.-External links:* *...
, anthropologist Miguel CovarrubiasMiguel CovarrubiasJosé Miguel Covarrubias Duclaud was a Mexican painter and caricaturist, ethnologist and art historian among other interests. In 1924 at the age of 19 he moved to New York City armed with a grant from the Mexican government, tremendous talent, but very little English speaking skill. Luckily,...
, painter Carlos MéridaCarlos MeridaCarlos Mérida was a Guatemalan artist.-Early life:Mérida was born in Guatemala City to a family from Quetzaltenango, boasting a Maya and Zapotec heritage which was often an inspiration in his art. He began studying music but became hearing-impaired due to illness. He then changed to the visual arts... - Surrealist painter Wolfgang PaalenWolfgang PaalenWolfgang Paalen was an Austrian-Mexican painter and theorist.-Early life:Wolfgang Paalen was born in Vienna in 1905, as the first of four sons of the Austrian-Jewish merchant and inventor Gustav Robert Paalen, and his German wife, the actress Clothilde Emilie Gunkel...
with painter and poet Alice RahonAlice RahonAlice Rahon was a French Surrealist painter and writer.- Life :Alice Rahon was born in the village Chenecey-Buillon in the French Franche-Comté region. In 1931 she met the Austrian painter Wolfgang Paalen whom she married later. She was inspired by his Surrealist poetry...
, and photographer Eva Sulzer.
Current artists:
- Painter Brian Fey lives as a reclusive hermit in the forest of nearby Cerro Chivo.
- Painter, writer, restaurateur, and activist Charles Dews lives right on the town's plaza in Casa Las Rosas. The house is a present day café that serves French-Mexican fusion cuisine and is a center for many activities, including dance, literary, and art presentations, discussion groups, classes of all sorts, and, in general, functions as the hub of the local intellectual and artistic community.
- Painter and ceramic artist Jon Skaglund lives and works in the village.