Janitzio

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Janitzio

Janitzio, island in Lake Pátzcuaro (Michoacán, Mexico). Janitzio is home to one of the many distinctive Tarascan communities that settled on and around Lake Pátzcuaro. During the Mexican wars for independence from Spain the insurgents built a fort on the island that was attacked in 1816 by royalist forces. The heroic defense mounted by the insurgents is commemorated by an enormous 132-foot statue of José María Morelos y Pavón (1765–1815). The statue, in its strikingly beautiful setting, along with the picturesque butterfly fishing nets made and used by the island people (today mainly viewed in postcards, in light of the decline of the lake), have made Janitzio the subject of popular songs and a place of tourism.

See alsoMorelos y Pavón, José María .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Pablo G. Macías, Pátzcuaro (Morelia, 1978).

Additional Bibliography

Toledo, Victor M. Plan Patzcuaro 2000: Presentación, Objectivos, Propuestas. Morelia, Mexico: SEMARNAP, 1996.

                                Margaret Chowning