Basilica of Our Lady of Health

It is the most important temple in Pátzcuaro, as it was the cathedral that Don Vasco de Quiroga founded and began to build in 1540, whose project was truly grandiose. It had to consist of five naves of equal size that would meet in the center, where the main altar would be located. It is possible to see its design in the city's coat of arms, where it was captured.

This design represented a solution to the problem of the multitude of faithful, who did not fit in a temple and which the friars had solved with open chapels, that is, in the open air – which we will talk about later -. “Tata” Vasco thought of making a temple composed of five churches capable of housing all the faithful at the same time.

However, the work was never carried out because the construction experts at that time considered it dangerous due to its size and the earthquakes that constantly shook the region.

There is another version that says that the construction was not actually carried out because the Vatican considered it superb and capable of competing in grandeur and importance with St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.

Even so, the only nave built served as the Cathedral from the arrival of the Jesuits in 1573, until the episcopal see was transferred to Valladolid – today Morelia – in 1580.

The main altar of the Basilica has served since 1908 as a shelter for an image of the venerated Virgin of Health, made of cane paste and orchid honey, a mixture commonly used in pre-Hispanic times by indigenous people and later applied in the 16th century to make religious figures.