Fuente de las Tarascas

The Fuente de las Tarascas stands at the head of the aqueduct, where Avenida Francisco I. Madero Oriente meets the Calzada Fray Antonio de San Miguel. Three bare-shouldered Purépecha figures hold aloft a basket of Michoacán fruit; the present bronze group was installed in 1984 after earlier versions of the fountain were lost, and it now serves as the informal gateway to the aqueduct walk. The fountain sits on a traffic island reached by pedestrian crossings, and most visitors spend 15 to 30 minutes seeing and photographing it before continuing along the Calzada toward the Santuario de Guadalupe. The best views are from across the traffic circle at dusk, when the fountain and the first arches of the aqueduct are lit together. Vendors selling snacks and drinks cluster around the fountain in the evening, and the junction can be busy during civic parades, which often pass this point on their route through the city.