Understand
Erongaricuaro, which means "place of waiting" or "place of the watchtower" in the Purhépecha language, is a village in the state of Michoacán, Mexico. It is located about an hour and a half drive from Morelia and Uruapan, and just 20 minutes from the famous colonial town of Patzcuaro. The estimated population is 5,000 people.
Eronga, lies just across Lake Pátzcuaro from Pátzcuaro. The native Purhépecha from the pueblos near Eronga come to market day on Tuesdays. This ancient town was one of the critical trade points for the Purhepecha empire. Friendly to outsiders, Eronga has hosted artists such as Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera along with the father of surrealism, Andre Breton, and Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky. Former president Lazaro Cardenas used it as his hideaway across the lake before the road arrived to Eronga. Today Eronga hosts ex-patriots from Argentina, the United States, France, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy.
The lively Eronga plaza has many exotic trees displaying the area's tolerant climate.
Altitude above sea level: 2,100 meters
Temperature: Maximum 24°C Minimum 6°C
History
The pretty colonial-era village of Eronga lies on the west side of the lake about 17km/11mi from Pátzcuaro. During the Second World War a group of French Surrealists found refuge in Eronga making the village a new Left Bank. Stokely Carmichael hid out here during the dangerous years of the 1960s.
The original Purhépecha village of Eronga was located up the mountain from the present day village and dates back around two thousand years. See the Web site of Dave Haskell, an archaeologist who has studied the area in depth. (http://www.davehaskell.co...). Professor Haskell's studies indicate pretty clearly that although Eronga was a part of the Purhé Empire, it was such an important village that it was relatively independent from the main seat of the empire in Tzintzuntzan, probably due to its ties with the villages on the Meseta Purhépecha to the west.