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main plaza, known today as Plaza Vasco de Quiroga, is renowned
for its beauty, size and the harmonious design of the buildings
which surround it.
Reigning over the plaza’s north side
is the Mansion Iturbe, a classic example of Patzcuaro’s
architecture.
At the end of the 17th century, where the
Mansion Iturbe is located were a group of small but commercially
active stores and businesses, commonly known as “houses
on the stone pavement.”
In 1780 these deteriorating buildings were
restored, and Don Manuel de Abarca Leon, councilman and provincial
mayor, made his residence there for several years.
1790 marked a change of ownership when Francisco
de Iturbe y Heriz, a native of Vizcaya who was sent to Patzcuaro
to establish a “Casa de Arrieria”(a service providing
mules) by Coronel Emeterio de Iturbe Iraeta, his uncle who
was living in Mexico City, bought the property. As time passed,
he became one of the most influential men in Patzcuaro, thanks
to the active commercial trade between Acapulco, Valladolid
(now Morelia), the Bajio(central Mexico) and Mexico City.
Francisco de Iturbe y Heriz was born in
Vergara, in the Basque province of Spain, on the 20th of September
of 1768. He came to the New Spain (as Mexico was known in
those times) in 1784, at the age of sixteen, to live in Pátzcuaro.
He married Doña Josefa de Anciola del Solar y Perez
Santoyo, and together they had five children.
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Francisco
Maria de Iturbe y Anciola: Served as a representative
at the Constituent Assembly Mexico City in 1856, Mayor
of Tacubaya, Governor of the State of Mexico, Minister
of Public Finance for three terms, and Knight of the Order
of Guadalupe. The street adjacent to the hotel bears his
name.
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Maria Ignacia de Iturbe y Anciola: married
a brigadier from the Royal Army, Don Fernando de Miranda
y Septien.
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Jesusa de Iturbe y Anciola: became a
Capuchin nun and became the Mother Superior of the Bernardas
Convent in Mexico City.
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Victoriano de Iturbe y Anciola: became
captain of the Lanceros Guard and was killed in the battle
of Churubusco in 1847.
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 Francisca
de Iturbe y Anciola: married Don Francisco de
Arriaga y Peralta, a descendent of the Don Anton de Arriaga,
who came to Michoacan in July of 1524 to accept the land
grant, the“Encomienda de Tlazazalca,” from
the conquistador Hernan Cortez, an honor conferred upon
Spanish colonists.
Doña
Francisca de Iturbe y Anciola received the mansion as
her dowry when she married Don Francisco de Arriaga, and
the mansion became the residence of the Arriaga Iturbe
Family, whose descendents have preserved the mansion through
the present day.
This mansion has witnessed the passage of many events
which have impacted the country’s history. At the
19th century dawned, the mansion’s balconies saw
Royal and the Insurgent forces, as well as conservatives
and liberals, pass through the town. An important personage
of that time was Don Luis Arriaga Iturbe, who, thanks
to his republican convictions, negotiated with General
Regules to rescind orders to burn Patzcuaro on the 6th
of January of 1867. He went on to serve as Mayor of Patzcuaro
from 1880 to 1909. Due to his actions, the next municipal
government named the square next to the Basilica in his
honor.
The years following the Revolution forced the descendents
of Don Luis Arriaga Iturbe to abandon their residence
in the mansion, leaving it in the hands of caretakers
for a number of years.
During these long years, the mansion saw many transformations
in use until 1970, when its current restoration, which
continues to this day, gave it renewed life as a small
historic inn, a member of the Treasures of Michoacán
Quality Club, comprised of the most select hotels in Michoacan
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