Santa Clara del Cobre is a Magical town and municipality located in the center of the state of Michoacán, Mexico, 18 km from Pátzcuaro and 79 km from the state capital of Morelia. While the official name of the municipality is Salvador Escalante, and the town is often marked as "Villa Escalante" or "Salvador Escalante" on maps, both entities are interchangeably called Santa Clara del Cobre. The town is part of the Pátzcuaro region of Michoacán, and ethnically dominated by the Purépecha people. These people have been working with copper since the pre-Hispanic era, and led to this town's dominance in copper crafts over the colonial period (1519–1821) until well into the 19th century. Economic reverses led to the industry's near-demise here until efforts in the 1940s and 1970s managed to bring the town's work back into prominence.