Below the ruin in Tzintzuntzan is a Spanish mission. Tzintzuntzan is a Purépecha name meaning "Place of Hummingbirds" and it was the capital of the Tarascan League at the time of the invasion by the Aztecs in the 15th century. The Aztecs were repulsed by the Tarascans, who eventually came to peaceful terms with the Spanish in the 1520's. However in 1530, Nuño del Guzmán had the Tarascan chief burned alive in his quest for gold.

Tzintzuntzan became the headquarters for the Franciscan monks in the mid-1530's when they built this monastery. Eventually, the monks moved their base to Pátzcuaro.