The stories of violence in the Mexican state of Michoacán overshadow its treasures.
When we booked a day tour from our hotel in the town of Morelia, we were the only ones. Our guide, Antonio, brought us to his car for what turned into an extensive two-day tour of the region!
I asked Antonio if he could bring us to Santa Clara de Cobre, a small town I had learned about through Chef Oropeza’s cooking show, Haciendas de Mexico.
Antonio brought us to Casa Felicitas, a copper workshop where we given a free private class in coppersmith artistry.
The work requires artistic talent as well as physical strength and the ability to withstand the high temperatures of the ovens.
Casa Felicitas competes in an annual competition in Santa Clara. Of course, they have a shop where you can buy some of their beautiful, crafted pieces! I was excited to buy a copper pan for my kitchen back home. This was one of the items I was hoping to find.
Maybe with a guide like one, one fine day…
You would be surprised that it’s not as dangerous as they say, at least for tourists. We traveled all over Michoacán with Antonio and everything was quiet
Weeeeeell, I’ll have to think about it.
OMG – this is terrific! would never have considered experimenting with coppersmithing 🙂
It was a fun experience, and there was absolutely no pressure to buy in the store afterwards. Thanks for visiting, da-AL 👋😗
Michoacán is one of my favourite states in Mexico – I tried to send some friends there last year but they got as far a Zacatecas where they were the only Gringos in town. Even though everyone was very friendly they were alarmed at the total lack of other tourists and went off to San Miguel de Allende, where there was of course a ton of Gringos and they felt safer. The stories circulating make a lot of people afraid and that’s too bad.
We loved Michoacán too and we felt safe. The kidnapping of those Italians doesn’t help things, though…