Capula

Capula is a village of about 5,600 people (2020) at 2,100 m in the municipality of Morelia, some 17 to 20 km west of the state capital on the road to Quiroga. Its houses are still mostly adobe, wood and tile. Nahua-speaking Tecpanecs passed through first, and in the 14th century the Purépecha of the lord Tariácuri settled it, calling it Xénkuarhu. After the conquest, Bishop Vasco de Quiroga encouraged the Purépecha villages of the region to specialise in a craft, and Capula's was pottery, a blend of Spanish and indigenous techniques that has lasted to the present. The village is known for its loza (tableware) decorated with tiny dots, the punteado or 'capulineado' style, and for rust-coloured earthenware.

In the 1970s the artist and potter Juan Torres settled in Capula and began modelling clay versions of La Catrina, the skeleton lady in a big hat created by the engraver José Guadalupe Posada and made famous by Diego Rivera. He taught the technique to local artisans, and the clay catrina is now the village's signature: hundreds of local artisans make them in family workshops, and one told UnoTV she can finish up to ten a day. Torres's workshop is one of the best known in town and offers classes. Besides catrinas, potters make plates, cups, vases, planters and tequila glasses, sold by street vendors and in the Mercado de Artesanías.

The parish church dates from the 16th century, with medallions showing Saints Francis, Augustine, Ignatius of Loyola and Dominic and a 19th-century tower; inside is a carved wooden Calvary. Each autumn the main streets fill with stalls for the Feria Nacional Artesanal y Cultural de la Catrina, held in the last week of October and the first days of November. In 2024, its 14th edition, 48 artisans competed for 24 prizes in the catrina contest; the 16th edition runs from 18 October to 3 November 2026, during Michoacán's Noche de Muertos season.