Day of the Dead Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico

Day of the Dead Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico

Day of the Dead is known for its celebrations in Michoacán where the graveyards are decorated with marigolds and small tokens of affection

Photographs by Bill Bell

Morelia is the capital of the Mexican state of Michoacán. It is a beautiful colonial city with many rich historic buildings. The city’s downtown area houses more than 1000 colonial buildings and churches became a World Heritage Site in 1991.

The city is the biggest in the state with a population of 642,319 people in an area of 1,199.02 km² (462.94 sq mi). It is situated in the region of the Guayangareo Valley, surrounded by the Punhuato and Quinceo Hills at an elevation of 1,921 meters above sea level.

Day of the Dead is known for its celebrations in Patzcuaro Michoacán where the graveyards are decorated with marigolds and other decorations. The whole state of Michoacán share in these rituals and ceremony and can be observed in small towns as well as the capital of Morelia.

Morelia for its artists and during the Day of the Dead, the city excels in imagination, pizazz and reverence.

Displays are planned well in advance; thousands of marigolds carpet the city in displays, street scenes and storefronts. Actors dress as skeletons and “Catrina” figures in various poses.

The city is transformed into a hub of both reverence for the departed and an irreverence towards death itself.