Viceroy Mendoza establishes the “City of Michoacán"…
May 1541 CE
Viceroy Mendoza establishes the “City of Michoacán" on May 18, 1541, on the site of the capital of the Tarascan kingdom in the central plateau of west central Mexico.
The town’s initial inhabitants are fifty Spanish noble families and a number of P'urhépechas (Tarascans) brought from Pátzcuaro and Tiripetio to serve the Spanish.
The name will be changed in 1545 to Valladolid.
Renamed Morelia in 1828, the city is destined to serve from 1580 as the capital of Michoacán state; it remains so today.