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Spell, Charm, and Memories
Oaxaca (pronounced /wa-ha-ka/) is the most diverse state in Mexico. It has peaks that reach more than 3,000 meters high, caverns that are among the deepest in the world, virgin beaches, secluded forests, and sunlit valleys that hold the majority of the people. Every year thousands of marine turtles arrive on the coast, not far from the tourist centers of Puerto Escondido and the Bays of Huatulco, where tourists from all over the world come to enjoy their vacation and the warm waters of the Oaxacan Pacific Coast.
Oaxaca is rich in traditions and customs and has the largest ethnic population found in the Republic of Mexico. Oaxaca is customarily divided into seven regions: La Cañada, La Costa, La Sierra (sub-divided into the Sierra Norte and the Sierra Sur), La Mixteca, El Papaloapan, El Istmo, and Los Valles Centrales. Located in this last region is the capital of the state, Ciudad Oaxaca de Juárez (Oaxaca City).
Oaxaca has all of the features of modern progress--communications, transportation, and health care--especially in its capital. However, it has not lost that air of innocence that characterizes it, of a community anchored in a carefree time, which is due, above all else, to the robust presence of its indigenous population: sixteen ethnic groups who speak more than 150 dialectal variants, who proudly preserve their traditions and lifestyles, who give cultural plurality to the state, and are the finest part of its wealth: its people.
Oaxaca has two places declared by UNESCO as belonging to the Cultural Heritage of Mankind: the archaeological site of Monte Albán and the Centro Historico of Oaxaca City. These prehispanic and colonial riches are without compare in Mesoamerica.
Near the capital stands one of the oldest living trees in the world: the Arbol de Tule, a sabino or ahuehuete (Montezuma cypress) that measures 58 meters in perimeter and is more than 2,000 years old. The tree has witnessed a great part of the history of Oaxaca. The Christian era had hardly begun for the Occidental West when Monte Albán was already a first-class cultural center, a city inhabited by sages, warriors, astronomers, and farmers. The people who guided the destiny of the “People of the Clouds,” later known as the Zapotecs.
The Zapotecs believed that an unknowable and all-powerful supreme force with neither beginning nor end governed the world. They believed that man and nature together formed the maximum divinity, an inseparable unit whose relationship should be of mutual respect, balance, and appreciation. A solar calendar of 365 days marked the passing of the years and of the seasons, while another, a ritual calendar of 260 days, ciphered the secrets of life and the periods in which the world was destroyed and renewed, as if shaken by a purifying cosmic fire.
The decline of the Zapotec culture was followed by the booming of the Mixtecs, who in their turn, were displaced by pressure from the Aztecs, without any culture dying out. These people erected ceremonial centers, citadels, and burial sites. The most easily visited archaeological sites in the Central Valleys are Mount Albán, Mitla, Yagul, Lambityeco, Dainzú, and Zaachila.
When the Spaniards arrived in Oaxaca, they met with a mosaic of cultures spread over a rugged territory inhabited by different groups whose lives were given over to fulfilling their rituals and traditions. In 1524 Hernán Cortés complained by letter to the King of Spain of the obstacles found in Oaxaca to his work of conquest. “This land” he says, referring to the valleys and mountains occupied by the Mixtecs and the Zapotecs, “is so mountainous that it cannot even be crossed on foot.” As for the people, Cortés relates that he twice sent troops against the indigenous people, “but they were unable to find victory because its warriors were very fierce and well-armed.”
A few years later, Cortés, enchanted by Oaxaca, would confess to his passion for the same lands that had once seemed so rough and savage. “Blessed art thou God who allowed me to know these places,” said Cortés, who later obtained from the King of Spain the title El Marquesado del Valle de Oaxaca.
During colonial times Oaxaca played a prominent role in the development of New Spain. Large flocks of sheep provided wool for the looms of Puebla; the haciendas cultivated sugarcane from which were made the most famous candies in the viceroyalty; the best horses on the continent were raised here; gold was mined; large profits were made from the dye made from the grana cochinilla (cochineal); and to the ports of Huatulco and Salina Cruz came the treasures of Peru, Guayaquil, and Guatemala and the silks, textiles, and spices loaded in the Philippines.
The growth of cities, ports, sugar mills, and industries, introduced in parallel with the glories and miseries of evangelization, did not overthrow the old system of beliefs and lifestyle of the indigenous communities, who integrated their old values, hardly modifying them, with the symbols and practices of the new religion.
In 1577 the Bishop of the Diocese of Oaxaca, Bernardo de Albuquerque, reported to Philip II about the obstacles he found in his task of evangelization in a land where the people speak 22 languages, live “more scattered and dispersed” than in Biscay and in Navarre, and “suckle idolatries from the breasts of their mothers.”
From mother to child the prehispanic past has been transmitted century after century, still survives, and is manifested in fiestas, markets, music, clothing, speech, food, and in the importance still given to communal work, to rites of exchange, to reciprocal help, and to the close linkage found between daily life and rituals that touch the sacred realm.
According to an analysis made by the Oaxacan researcher Dr. Margarita Dalton, tradition, ritual, and magic are expressed in dances, the secular medium employed to propitiate and dominate the will of the mysterious powers. In each community the advice of elders, town councils, and people of wisdom has been directed toward maintaining and nourishing the customs related to the dances and music that necessarily accompany mankind when they have to prompt the universal forces to create favorable circumstances for rain, the hunt, and good crops or when celebrating weddings, welcoming newborns, or saying farewell to those who have died. “The dancer,” says Dr. Dalton, “does not dance for their personal gratification or that of their audience: their dances are a prayer that invokes the support of the supreme forces that the dancer believes dominate the world.”
The dances, which vary in each region and in each community, evoke strange and deep rhythms, even if often they are accompanied by recognizable music, born, perhaps, in Merida or Durango, in Naples or Saragossa. The masks serve the dancer to take on the personality a bull, a tiger, a European, or the devil himself! The costumes are the pride and joy of their owners and are the most colorful, brilliant, and distinctive feature not only of the dancers, but also of all of the indigenous communities of Oaxaca.
The traditional attire surprises and captivates. In their designs, colors, and textures they blend colonial techniques, indigenous symbols, and the magic and colors of silks imported from the Orient. There are Flanders batistes, bobbin laces, Mitla’s mysterious geometric designs, and embroidered cambric and linen worked up in a seventeenth-century Spanish style. Each stitch reveals an idea. Often the colors are obtained from nature: red from grana cochinilla (an insect that lives on nopal cactus leaves, which once crushed and boiled, provides up to sixteen tones); blue obtained by fermenting the indigo plant; black from the fruit of the huizache (a spiny tree with a fruit high in tannin); yellow from moss; and in the past, purple from the caracol púrpura, a type of marine snail that was captured, milked, and, once its essence was used to obtain the magic color, was returned to the sea (now a protected species).
The most appropriate arena for showing off, watching, learning, and sharing is during a fiesta. In Oaxaca they celebrate them all: Christmas, Easter, All Saints Day (Día de Muertos), Constitution Day, Labor Day, Day of the Virgin (each town has its Virgin), local saints, national heroes, historic victories and defeats, Semana Santa (Holy Week), and, of course, New Year’s Eve. There are special days to honor teachers, postmen, doctors, taxi drivers, journalists and more! To all of this, each barrio (neighborhood) has its own community fiesta and each family its own births, baptisms, confirmations, weddings, and funerals as well as quinceañeras for girls who at fifteen are dressed in their finest and presented to society.
The main Oaxacan fiesta, the Guelaguetza, is an institutionalized form of celebrating reciprocity. On the two Mondays following 16 July, representatives from the seven regions of the state celebrate (in Oaxaca City) this fiesta whose name means gift or mutual offering. Through signs and codes this fiesta exhibits the prehispanic tradition, adorned with music and dancing, of the division of the harvest and the produce from each region. Pineapples, mangos, serapes, baskets, bread, and coffee beans rain down upon the audience as a symbol of the general disposition to share, to exchange, and to survive united.
The best place for exchange are the tianguis, or market days. The writer D. H. Lawrence, who once lived in Oaxaca, considered Oaxacan markets as an ideal space created for interchange between people. “The men,” he writes in Market Day in Oaxaca, “have invented two excuses in order to freely gather into heterogeneous crowds without arousing suspicion: religion and the marketplace. An armful of firewood, a blanket, or a few eggs or tomatoes are enough to sell, buy, bargain, and exchange. Above all else, human contact is exchanged. This is the reason for their love of bargaining, no matter if the difference is one centavo.”
The market days in the Central Valleys follow one after another and they flourish: Sunday in Tlacolula, Monday in Miahuatlán, Tuesday in Ayoquezco, Wednesday in Etla and Zimatlán, Thursday in Ejutla and Zaachila, Friday in Ocotlán, and Saturday in Oaxaca. The stalls are arranged and organized by product, custom, families, or simply by chance. Women dressed in their beautiful huilpiles (tunics) reign over most of the stalls, each one, in general, sells a single range of products, so it is necessary to visit the whole marketplace to obtain a complete representation of its world.
Cortés loved the Oaxacan markets, whose origins possibly started with the celebration of first harvest. The principal square in Monte Albán is a plaza, a market square. The Spaniards erected the capital city of Oaxaca along a central axis around which they organized the civil government, religious groups, and the markets: places to buy, sell, exchange, and above all else, to gather.
The colonial churches had to compete, on one side, with the explosion of the life of the markets, and on the other, with the exuberance of Nature, whose colors and shapes were not conceivable in somber Spain. The churches had to be taller than the sabino groves, bigger than the markets, richer than the best of the mines. That is how they are; such was the insanity.
In 1546 Gonzalo de las Casas, a distant relative of Cortés, sent to Spain for Francisco Becerra Trujillo, architect of the first-stage of construction of The Escorial, so that Becerra could direct the construction of the Church of Yanhuitlán. Six thousand Natives worked without rest for twenty-five years on its construction, a prodigious cost, finished off with magnificent coffered ceilings of Arabic inspiration, Spanish supervision, and indigenous workmanship.
The Spanish Baroque found a perfect center for its exceptional immoderations in Oaxaca. Possibly the best example is the Church of Santo Domingo de Guzman (in Oaxaca City), which was fittingly dedicated to the patron founder of the Order that was the most dominant in these lands for its evangelical work. The monumental main retable (piece behind an altar), a jewel among colonial jewels, is gilded with gold.
The Dominicans were the dominant force of the evangelization process in Oaxaca. They built forty convents with their respective churches, magnificent works of the architecture of their time that still can be observed in all of their splendor. They carried their zeal for building throughout the Central Valleys, especially into the Mixtec region. In Cuilapan they united all of the architectural styles of renaissance Europe. In Tlacolula they had the pulpit forged in iron. There is a luminous and appealing open-chapel in Teposcolula that is deemed a masterpiece.
It was a Dominican, Fray Jordán de Santa Catalina, who founded the Church of San Jerónimo Tlacochahuaya, which aimed to avoid the excesses of the rest of the Order and was completely devoted to meditation. Thus, its chambers are gloomy, low, and dark. In them Fray Juan de Córdoba spent twenty-five of his hundred years of life, of whom it has been said that he never touched money, that he only put on shoes to say mass, and that he wrote the first dictionary in the Zapotec language. The Natives of the region continue to consider him a Saint.
Oaxaca is a land of visionaries, luminaries, artists, dreamers, and poets. Oaxaca has been the birthplace of such illustrious personalities as Don Benito Juárez (who was born in Guelatao, Ixtlán, on 21 March 1806), Porfirio Díaz, the Flores Magón brothers, and José Vasconcelos. Born here also were Miguel Cabrera, Rufino Tamayo, Francisco Toledo, and Rodolfo Morales, as well as Doña Rosa and Teodora Blanco, all prominent in the Arts.
The philosopher Nietzsche wanted to live in Oaxaca. The French surrealist André Pieyre de Mandiargues dreamt, after having fallen in love with the women of Tehuantepec, of a small female angel dressed in shiny armor who appeared over a field of white lilies. John Lennon visited the heights of the Sierra Huautla, which has caverns that supposedly reach to the center of the earth.
Porfirio Díaz, once governor of Oaxaca and later president of Mexico, used to ask his wife, Doña Carmelita, everyday while in exile in Paris, for the news she had from Oaxaca. How was it possible to live without the light and sky of Oaxaca, without the fiestas and the markets of Oaxaca, without the food of Oaxaca? In Paris, Don Porfirio detested French cooking and he missed the flavor, imagination, variety, and poetry of Oaxacan cooking.
Oaxaca is the land of the seven moles (a spicy sauce that includes chocolate), quesillo (a type of stringy cheese wrapped into a ball), meat cooked in underground pits, the most delicious tamales in Mexico, the most incredible candies, chocolate atole (a drink made from ground corn and cacao beans), café de olla (coffee boiled with cinnamon in a clay pot), pan de yema (bread enriched with egg yokes), and all of the imaginable varieties of dishes made from maize (corn).
Anthropologist Kent Flannery suggests that the Valleys of Oaxaca may have been the first place in America where maize was domesticated and cultivated. History suggests that Oaxacan food can only be explained as the mixing of Spanish and indigenous traditions, the sumptuosity of the Aztec table, the colonial Baroque, a complex technique, and that indispensable ingredient that is becoming scarce in the rest of the cuisines of the world: time.
Each Oaxacan dish contains many hours of work in front of the stove. For example, in the preparation of tamales, the leaves of the wrappings need to be washed, roasted, and soaked; the chilies have to be toasted and ground; the corn has to be shucked, cooked, and ground; the filler cooked; the corn spread and stuffed with the filler; a container to cook them in has to be prepared; then the tamales are folded, tied, positioned to cook, and lastly, served.
The writer Italo Calvino can only explain the lavishness of Oaxacan cooking by attributing its complicated recipes to the nuns of the convents. “Whole lives,” writes Calvino in Under the Jaguar Sun, “were dedicated to the search for new mixtures and varying quantities of ingredients, to the attentive and patient combining of them, and to the transmission of this detailed and accurate knowledge.” Guests of sacred architecture, specialized in excessive and overflowing sensations, refined, confined women in need of the absolute, they had only to create recipes dictated by the possibilities of the marketplace and their imaginations while an army of maids worked at producing these recipes. “The roasting,” Calvino imagines, “of the more than a hundred varieties of judiciously chosen peppers for each dish, would open perspectives upon a blazing ecstasy.”
Oaxacan mole requires at least thirty-one ingredients. Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz prepared it. In her time it was prepared with toasted cilantro, roasted garlic, cloves, pepper, cinnamon and pasilla chilies, toasted with butter; everything was finely ground and then fried with pork, chorizos (sausages), and chicken. Once ready it was garnished with toasted ajonjolí (sesame). A lot of work for a sauce that today has some two hundred variations!
Oaxacans also eat flowers: rose petals in ice-cream; bean flowers in mole; pumpkin flowers in empanadas (large tacos cooked upon a comal); pumpkin flowers in soup; cocoa flowers in tejate (a drink made from maize and cacao beans with a floating corn-cookie-spume); carnations in preserves, and bougainvilleas floating in horchata (a typical fruit drink). There cannot be a better way to communicate with nature, a higher poetic awareness of existence.
To live in Oaxaca is an aesthetic experience. Tourists and travelers quickly perceive the lure of Oaxaca: its sky and its light. You should visit Monte Albán at dusk, when the stones acquire a reddish tone, the clouds quicken their pace over the mountains, and the solemnity of the echos created by the layout of the ancient temples increases.
Art is found in nature and in the clothing, woodcarvings, paintings, stonework, and food of the people. The memory of the centuries is imparted through the people…Magic Oaxaca! According to the beliefs of the Mesoamerican sect that worshiped Ometéotl, the God of Duality, paradise has already been granted to man, but to conquer it, personal effort is needed. You may already be prepared to feel, to perceive, to discover, places like Oaxaca.
Dreams of an Ancestral Heritage
Oaxaca is one of the richest states in Mexico in terms of popular art. The expressions of its artistic traditions and of its artistic inventiveness are pervasive and extend over the whole state. There is practically no primary material (cloth, wood, clay, iron, precious metals, leather, etc.) that does not find singular artistic usage in Oaxaca. These materials, enhanced through the artistic talent and the imagination of artisans (with due regard given to traditional methods and techniques) characterizes Oaxacan craftwork, and has given it international fame. One of the most striking examples results when Oaxacan imagination joins with the traditional craft of manufacturing textiles.
Cotton and wool fabrics are woven for clothing as they were centuries ago, with the help of waist looms, distaffs, spindles, and natural coloring. The work is exemplified by the richness of the indigenous attire: the astonishing blouses, skirts, and scarves of the Oaxacan Coast and the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, (where influences can still be found of the long ago trade with the Orient), in the huipiles of the Sierra, and in the serapes of the Central Valleys. Oaxaca is one of the rare areas that produces coyuchi cotton, whose natural colors vary from beige to red. The cotton ball of this variety is so small that it is impossible to spin it using industrial methods.
Oaxacan wooden carvings are also recognized internationally. There are carvings of skeletons and devils, because there are fiestas with skeletons and devils: Carnival and Día de Muertos. There are carvings of kings, nativity scenes, music bands, nature, animals, and more! Some common animals have been transformed in fantastic beings: alebrijes, the latest example of the capacity of Oaxacan artisans to link tradition and poetic fantasy, creation, and a respect for a centuries-old cultural inheritance.
Appearance of the Invisible
Art lives in the veins of Oaxacans and is reflected in their history, in the work of their great contemporary painters, and in the creations of its artists.
Rufino Tamayo, Francisco Toledo, and Rodolfo Morales are considered the great modern Oaxacan painters. Tamayo was born in Oaxaca and lived in Mexico City and New York. He is one of the greatest Mexican artists of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Morales, “builder of pueblos,” as Carlos Monsiváis defines him, was born in Ocotlán and traveled with his exhibitions to Europe and throughout America and, finally, returned to Ocotlán, where he continued his unique and universal painting. Toledo was born in Juchitán; his work took shape in Paris and, the same as Morales, he soon missed the magic of Oaxaca and returned to the capital, after having exhibited his prodigious and poetic imagination to the world.
Many young Oaxacan artists have followed the trail of these three and explore, with their work, the Oaxacan landscape, traditions, and myths; at the same time they reveal their affinity for either American or European movements that define, in part, their methods or styles. In general, they all share a clear pride in their cultural inheritance by representing their history in another time and place, by portraying the “appearance of the invisible,” a term coined by the Mexican writer Juan García Ponce. A great part of the work of these new Oaxacan artists and of the previously mentioned great local painters is on exhibit in the capital city of Oaxaca. In the museums it is not unusual to find designers and artists from all over the world who come to the land of light and magic to be inspired by the treasures from Monte Albán.
Ecotourism in the Central Valleys
The Zapotec word for house, yú'ù, has been used to designate a recently established program that allows tourists to lodge in unpretentious yet fully equipped guesthouses in rural settings where they can enjoy the landscape and the historical and artistic attractions of enchanting Oaxacan rural towns with attractive surroundings and make contact with the locals and their traditions. The Tourist Yú´ùs are individual houses designed to house up to five people. The rent is economical. Reservations can be made through the Secretaría de Desarrollo Turístico (SEDETUR) of Oaxaca.
INDEX OF TOURISM ROUTES
1). THE PANORAMIC ROUTE: Mexico City - Puebla - Tehuacán - Oaxaca
2). THE ROUTE AROUND THE CITY: - Oaxaca City - Historical Center - Andador Turistico (Tourist Walkway) Macedonio Alcalá - Regional Museum - Arches of Xochimilco - Church and Ex-convent of Santo Domingo - Church and Ex-convent of Carmen Alto - Church of the Preciosa Sangre de Cristo - Cathedral - Church and Ex-convent of San Agustín - Church of San Juan de Dios - Church of the Compañía de Jesús - Church and Ex-convent of San José - Church of San Cosme y Damián - Church of San Felipe Neri - Church and Ex-convent of San Matías Jalatlaco - Church of Nuestra Señora del Patrocinio - Basílica and Ex-convent of Nuestra Señora de la Soledad - Ex-convent of Santa Catarina de Siena - Museum of the House of Juárez - The Rufino Tamayo Museum of Prehispanic Art - Museum of Contemporary Art - Oaxaca State Institute of Graphic Arts - Macedonio Alcalá Theater - State Public Library - Zócalo (Main Square) - Alameda de León - Central University Building - Plaza of Dance and Socrates Garden - El Llano - Government Palace - Market of Benito Juárez Maza.
3). CRAFTS ROUTES:
A) Mercado de las Artesanías (Oaxaca City) - Santa María Atzompa - San Antonio Arrazola
B) ARIPO (Oaxaca) - Mercado 20 de Noviembre (Oaxaca) - San Bartolo Coyotepec - Santo Tomás Jalieza (Market on Friday) - San Martin Tilcajete - Ocotlán de Morelos (Market on Friday)
4). THE ROUTE OF THE WEAVERS: - Santa María de Tule - Santa Cruz Papalutla - San Jerónimo Tlacochahuaya - Teotitlán del Valle - Santa Ana del Valley - Tlacolula de Matamoros (Market on Sunday) - San Pablo Villa de Mitla - Hierve el Agua
5). THE SIERRA JUÁREZ ROUTE:
A) - El Punto Ixtepeji, Ixtlán - San Pablo Guelatao - Ixtlán de Juárez - Llano de las Flores - Capulalpan de Méndez - San Bartolomé Zoogocho (Market on Thursday)
B) - San Mateo Macuilxóchitl - Benito Juárez, Ixtlan
6). CHURCHES AND EX-CONVENTS, AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL ROUTES:
A) - Church of Santa María del Marquesado - Church and Ex-convent of Merced - Church of the Siete Príncipes - Church of Carmen Bajo - Huijazoo - San José el Mogote - Villa de Etla (Market on Wednesday) - San Pablo Huitzo
B) - Church of the Santísima Trinidad - Church of Nuestra Señora de la Consolación - Church of Nuestra Señora de las Nieves - Church and Ex-convent of Guadalupe - Monte Albán - Cuilapam de Guerrero - Villa de Zaachila (Market on Thursday)
C) - San Jerónimo Tlacochahuaya - Dainzú - Lambityeco - Yagul - San Pablo Villa de Mitla
7). THE DOMINICAN ROUTE: - Santo Domingo Yanhuitlán - San Pedro and San Pablo Teposcolula - San Martín Huamelulpan - Tlaxiaco - San Juan Bautista Coixtlahuaca - Villa de Tamazulapam del Progresso - Huajuapam de León - Yosocuta Dam - Cerro de las Minas
8). ROUTES TO THE COAST:
A) - Ocotlán de Morelos - Ejutla de Crespo - San José del Pacífico - San Pedro Pochutla
B) San Sebastián de las Grutas - El Vado - Sola de Vega - Santa Catarina Juquila
9). THE COASTAL ROUTE: - Puerto Escondido - Manialtepec Lagoon - Chacahua Lagoon - Pinotepa National - Mazunte - Puerto Ángel - Bays of Huatulco
10). THE ISTHMUS ROUTE: - Salina Cruz - Santo Domingo Tehuantepec - Juchitán of Zaragoza - leaving toward the State of Chiapas
1). THE PANORAMIC ROUTE
Leave from Mexico City and take the Puebla - Orizaba Highway. Take the turn toward Tehuacán onto the Super Highway to Oaxaca. You can admire the Tehuacán Valley while driving toward the extraordinary Mixtec landscape. <then, enjoy the arid Mixtec landscape as you drive on to the Valleys of Oaxaca.
2). ROUTE AROUND THE CITY
Ciudad Oaxaca de Juárez (Oaxaca City)
In 1532 the city was given the royal title of “Noble and Loyal City of Antequera” by the King of Spain, Charles V. In 1821 the name was changed to Oaxaca, which is derived from the Náhuatl word huáxyacac, whose roots are huaxin (guaje), an acacia-like tree that produces an edible seed, and yacalt (summit / nose / tip / point). Together they are translated as “the nose or point of the guajes.” In 1872, after the death of the State's native son, Benito Juarez (Benemérito de las Américas), the city changed its name to Ciudad Oaxaca de Juárez. Oaxaca City is only four and a half hours from Mexico City via the new highway. Currently, around a quarter of a million inhabitants live in the capital city of Oaxaca.
The Centro Histórico
In 1987 the Centro Histórico of Oaxaca City was declared part of the Cultural Heritage of Mankind by UNESCO. It owes its renown to the beauty and harmony of its architecture, the wealth of its cultural traditions, the extensive variety of regionally typical food found here, and to the temperate gentleness of its spring-like weather.
The Macedonio Alcalá Tourist Walkway
This street is neatly paved with rectangular cantera (quarry-stone). It was closed to vehicular traffic and converted into a pedestrian walkway in 1985. The street is flanked by colonial buildings such as those that hold the Public Library, the Monte de Piedad (pawn shop), the Museum of Contemporary Art, the former State of Oaxaca Institute of Sciences and Arts Building (today part of the Universidad Autónoma Benito Juárez), and diverse shops, restaurants, and craft stores.
The Regional Museum
The museum occupies what was once a Dominican convent. The building dates from the sixteenth century and is one of the most important architectural and artistic structures built in New Spain. The museum has an excellent collection of artifacts from the Zapotec and Mixtec cultures, including the fabulous treasure found in Tomb 7 on Monte Albán, as well as rooms devoted to the ethnography and history of Oaxaca.
The Arches of Xochimilco
This beautiful colonial haven is located to the north of the Centro Histórico of the city. It takes its name from a group of arches that run for approximately 300 meters and formed part of the San Felipe Aqueduct, and from a narrow cobbled lane that passes alongside them and goes to the old barrio of Xochimilco.
The San Felipe Aqueduct was built during the middle of the eighteenth century and provided water to Oaxaca City until early 1941. The remnants of the aqueduct start in nearby San Felipe and then pass through Xochimilco, but not before crossing the Jalatlaco River at the place called “Pozas Arcas” or “La Cascada,” where the stonework exemplifies the maximum technical engineering skills of the time. The vestiges of the aqueduct end in a corner of the atrium of the Church of Carmen Alto in a cistern that retains the terminal date of the work: 1751.
The Church and Ex-convent of Santo Domingo
The Church of Santo Domingo opened for worship in 1608 and is one of the best examples of baroque architecture in Mexico. The genealogical tree of Santo Domingo de Guzmán (founder of the Order) is outstanding. It is done in gilded and polychrome plasterwork upon the ceiling of the sotacoro (the area under a raised choir). The arched vault of the main nave is also spectacular and has thirty-six paintings depicting passages from both the Old and the New Testament. Oaxacan artists rebuilt the splendid, gilt baroque retable in 1959. The eighteenth-century Capilla del Rosario (annexed to the church) is an architectural jewel dedicated to the Virgin of the same name. Within it there are paintings of the Virgin and of Christ. The joyful, painful, and glorious “mysteries” of the rosary are depicted upon the walls of the church, and upon the ceiling of the choir.
Today the ex-convent houses an excellent museum run by the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH). It has often hosts folk art exhibits and has an ethno-botanical garden that has tours in both Spanish and English.
The Church and Ex-convent of Carmen Alto
This religious complex belonged to the Order of the Barefoot Carmelites, who settled in Oaxaca in 1696 and built the hermitage of La Santa Veracruz upon the site of the great Teocali (Temple) of Huaxyacac, where every July the prehispanic people celebrated the great Fiesta de los Señores in which a maiden was sacrificed to honor Centéotl, the Goddess of Corn and Agriculture. The festivity has been Christianized and is the current fiesta of the Guelaguetza (also known as the Lunes del Cerro), which coincides with festivities honoring the Virgen del Carmen. Around 1856 the convent was secularized and passed into the hands of the federal government; it then served as a jail and a cavalry barracks. The church has been restored and is open for public worship.
The Church of the Preciosa Sangre de Cristo
The church is built where the main cemetery for the city was located until the middle of the seventeenth century. Initially it was dedicated to assist the local parish, but in 1893 Archbishop Eulogio Gillow declared it a separate parish. The main facade of the church has a portada (ornate, multilevel entryway) and three towers with small steeples. The interior has a single nave with a barrel vault. In the presbytery there is an image of Jesus guarded by angels with the Virgen Dolorosa at the foot of the cross.
The Cathedral
Construction of the cathedral began in 1535. However, as was the case with many other buildings, earthquakes damaged it on several occasions, and after every major earthquake it had to be reconstructed. The last important reconstruction was carried out between 1702 and 1733. It was consecrated by Fray Francisco Calderón in July 1733. Its most remarkable element is its baroque facade, decorated with splendid relief work, among which the Assumption of the Virgen, crowned by the Holy Trinity, stands out. In the interior, the main retable, the choir seating, and the tubular organ are of particular interest, as are the several eighteenth-century paintings and the images and relics contained in the fourteen side chapels.
The Church and Ex-convent of San Agustín
This complex belonged to the Augustinian Order, which arrived in the city in 1576. Friar Juan Adriano founded the Augustinian mission of Oaxaca. This religious community was renowned for its educational activities. They opened a school of humanities where they taught subjects ranging from the alphabet and art to theology. Bishop Fernando de Albuquerque donated the property where the monks built their convent. In 1862, soon after the secularization decree, the federal government gave the Convent of San Agustín to the Institute of Sciences and Arts. In 1893 Bishop Eulogio Gillow acquired the convent and founded the “Casa de Cuna,” a child-welfare institution still in operation today.
The Church of San Juan de Dios
This church dates back to 1521, to the arrival of the first Spanish conquistadors to Oaxaca. The first religious construction is attributed to the friars Juan Díaz and Bartolomé de Olmedo, clergymen who came with the forces of Hernán Cortés. At first it was an adobe chapel with a thatch-roof, dedicated to Santa Catalina.
When the Villa of Antequera (now Ciudad Oaxaca de Juarez) was declared Diocesan Headquarters, the chapel was reconstructed with bricks and tiles to fulfill its new function, while a new building was being erected. The church is considered the first cathedral of Oaxaca. It was headed by Bishop Juan López de Zárate who arrived in Oaxaca in 1535. It was declared a historical monument on 9 January 1934. In the interior there are some fascinating seventeenth-century oil paintings that illustrate episodes from the early life of Oaxaca, among them: the first mass held in Oaxaca, the baptism of Cosijoeza, The Cross of Huatulco, and the Cajonos idolaters.
The Church and Ex-convent of the Compañía de Jesús
Jesuits began the construction of this church in 1579. It was dedicated to San Francisco Javier. The convent was built around four rectangular patios surrounded by corridors and arcades supported by Doric columns. Due to the secularization decree of 1867 the building was abandoned for more than thirty years. Near the turn of the century the convent and seminary were broken up and sold to private interests. At that time the ground floor was transformed into businesses and the upper floors were turned into warehouses. The building was declared a historical monument on 4 May 1933.
The main retable in the church is wooden and retains some of its ancient gilded figures. It has one body and a remate (crowning portion or finial). In the central niche, between estípite pilasters (elaborate baroque pilasters with stacked, inverted, and truncated pyramids), there is an image of the Immaculate Conception. On either side are niches that contain images of the Virgin's parents, San Joaquín and Santa Ana.
The Church and Ex-convent of San José
Jesuits had the Church of San José constructed between 1588 and 1594. It was abandoned for many years due to damage suffered during the earthquake of 1616. At the beginning of the eighteenth century Bishop Ángel Maldonado initiated the rebuilding of it and had a convent annexed to it in which to house Spanish nuns of the Capuchin congregation. Today it houses the recently remodeled School of Fine Arts.
During the Mexican Revolution the former-convent functioned as a blood donation center, hospital, and an old-age asylum. Its simple facade has a triangular pediment above a recess that contains an image of San José. The facade of the convent is a unique expression of baroque architecture. Of the interior patios only that of the main entrance is in use today.
The Church of San Cosme y Damián
This church was built during the second half of the sixteenth century as an annex to the Hospital of San Cosme and San Damián, also known as the Hospital Real. The idea of its founding arose from the need of the ill and those convalescing to have a place to pray, and at the same time to hear mass. In 1945 the building became the property of the state of Oaxaca and the church was closed for a long time. Now, the Day of San Cosme and San Damián is celebrated every 27 September. The church does not have an atrium and resembles the houses that surround it. It has no transept, vaults, or formal facade. It has a single nave and a narrow ceiling composed of many small vaults supported by cross beams.
The Church of San Felipe Neri
The construction of the Church of San Felipe Neri began in 1733 and was finished in 1770 (with the exception of the bell towers that date from the nineteenth century). It was consecrated in 1773 and dedicated to the Virgen del Patrocino and San Felipe Neri. Its baroque main facade consists of a portada and twin bell towers. The most important items found in the interior are five ostentatious, estípite, gilded retables carved in wood. The main retable, which covers the wall of the apse, has four bodies divided vertically into three sections and has a remate. There is a public fountain, built into the corner of the atrium, which faces an important intersection.
The Church and Ex-convent of San Matías Jalatlaco
A hermitage dedicated to Santa Catarina Mártir was built here in 1669. In 1700 the church was finished and rededicated to San Matías Apóstol. It was declared it a historical monument on 13 March 1941. The most outstanding features of this structure are its portada and the bell tower (which has pilasters with Corinthian capitals). The interior has a single nave with a long barrel vault.
The Church of Nuestra Señora del Patrocinio
This eighteenth-century church is consecrated to Nuestra Señora del Patrocinio. The architectural layout consists of a single nave covered by barrel vaults. The main facade consists of a portada and two slender towers. One of these towers has an attractive belfry with arched openings, grooved-columns, and intricate cornices.
The Basilica and Ex-Convent de Nuestra Señora de la Soledad
The construction of the church began in 1682; it was consecrated in 1690 by Friar Isidro Siraña y Cuenca. Its main facade is one of the finest examples of sculpted cantera in Oaxaca City. It has sculptures framed by different types of columns. Above the entryway there is a relief of the Virgin Mary at the foot of the cross.
The Convent of Nuestra Señora de la Soledad was built between 1690 and 1697. The work is attributed to Friar Sebastián de San Felipe, who probably also supervised construction of the church. The convent belonged to Augustinian nuns who dedicated it to Santa Mónica. Currently this building is used by the municipal government of Oaxaca City.
The Ex-Convent of Santa Catarina de Siena
The convent was founded by Bishop Bernardino de Alburquerque in 1568 and was called the Monasterio del Rosario de María. The convent was started with four nuns brought from Mexico City and was located in a private residence donated by Bishop Albuquerque. In 1579 the construction of the convent was entrusted to Hernando Cavarcos, who had supervised the construction of the Church of Santo Domingo de Guzmán. The construction of the convent began a few years before the end of the sixteenth century and was completed in the eighteenth century.
Soon after the expulsion of the nuns in 1862 (due to the Laws of Reformation), the convent served as a jail, and the church and atrium became the Municipal Palace. Later on, the church served as a cinema (a door which is still in use was opened in the western wall). At the beginning of the twentieth century a Masonic lodge was installed in the portion of the building on the corner of Reforma and Murguía. In 1950 the Abraham Castellanos School was opened in the remaining portion facing Reforma. Lastly, in 1976, the former-convent became the Hotel Presidente (today the prestigious Hotel Camino Real) and was declared a National Treasure.
The Museum of the Casa de Juárez
The museum is lodged in a colonial house on 609 García Vigil (in front of the Church of Carmen Alta), which belonged to Señor Antonio Salanueva. It is presently known as the Casa de Juarez because Salanueva took Benito Juárez (one of Mexico’s most important presidents) in when he first arrived from Guelatao in 1818. The modest colonial building was remodeled and transformed into a historical museum, which opened on 28 December 1974. The rooms contain everyday nineteenth-century objects and furniture and an encuadernación (bookbinding) shop that contains presses and bookbinding tools. There are some documents on exhibit from the War of Independence, the Reformation, and the French Intervention. Some of Benito Juárez’s personal belongings are displayed.
The Rufino Tamayo Museum of Prehispanic Art
The eighteenth-century colonial house, La Villarraza (also known as La Luz), was formerly the state archive and now houses 800 prehispanic pieces, which were donated in 1974 by the Oaxacan painter Rufino Tamayo.
The Museum of Contemporary Art (MACO)
The building that houses the museum is commonly known as the House of Cortés, although the conquistador Hernán Cortés (the Marqués del Valle de Oaxaca) could never have seen the house, which dates from the end of the seventeenth and the beginnings of the eighteenth century. This building is one of the most significant examples of viceregal civic architecture in Oaxaca. In spite of alterations made in the twentieth century it keeps to its original layout on the ground floor with rooms set around three indoor patios.
The design of the building is tailored to meet the demands imposed by the traditions of Oaxacan high society. It exhibits the influence of Andalusian houses, prevalent among the residences built by the descendants of the conquerors, and later by many other prominent personages from Mexican high society throughout the colonial period. One of the important architectural elements of the house is the sculpted stonework of the facade, especially over the main entryway.
The Instituto de Artes Gráficas
The Instituto occupies a beautiful seventeenth-century house located almost directly in front of the Church of Santo Domingo Guzman. It was founded by the painter Francisco Toledo, a native of Juchitán, Oaxaca and was inaugurated on 25 November 1988. It has about 5000 works of graphic art from around the world. These works cover many different time periods and were exhibited when the Instituto first opened. These works include some by Alberto Gaultiere, Francisco de Goya, Salvador Dali, Mariano Fortuny Carbo, Henry Moore, and works by the pioneers of Mexican graphic art such as Manuel Manilla, Guadalupe Posada, Francisco de Goitia, and the three great muralists: José Clemente Orozco, Diego Rivera, and David Alfaro Siqueiros.
Currently the Instituto has four rooms devoted to single-artist, two-month expositions and the rest of the rooms hold an excellent art oriented library that also contains a section of fiction. The library's collection deals mostly with universal art and craft themes and includes books on art history, museums, painters, folk art, craftwork, architecture, and much more. There is a comfortable patio where you can sit and relax or chat.
The Macedonio Alcalá Theatre
This beautiful building dates from the beginning of the twentieth century and preserves the Francophile sentiments in vogue at the time. Originally there was a casino annexed to the theatre. The principal access to the theatre is through a lobby built in the Louis XV-style, which has a staircase of white marble and walls of the same color with insets showing musical and poetical allegories. The Triumph of Art is represented on the ceiling of the main room.
The State Public Library
This building dates from the eighteenth century and is another fine example of Oaxacan colonial architecture. Its interior consists of three patios surrounded by arcaded corridors on both the ground and upper floors, which communicate with the rooms. It currently is the headquarters of the State Library, which was created by decree on 26 August 1825.
The Zócalo
Juan Peláez de Berrio laid out the Plaza de la Constitución, better known as the Zócalo in 1529. Later, Alonso García Bravo used it as a reference point while laying out the main urban grid of the Villa of Antequera (now Oaxaca City). During colonial times the Zócalo was neither paved nor had benches; a marble fountain was erected in 1739. In 1857 this fountain was removed to make way for the first kiosk, which was replaced in 1901 with the current modernist or art nouveau kiosk. The Zócalo is decorated for street fiestas held for the city's teeming populace, especially for 23 December (the night of the Radish Festival), 24 December (Christmas Eve), and 15 September (the Grito de Dolores). At night you can enjoy musical events that are offered on one night by the local band ensemble (brass, drums, etc.) and on the next night by the State Marimba Band.
The Alameda de León
In 1576 Viceroy Martín Enríquez donated two lots to the City Council of Antequera so they could build a municipal palace. However, no such building was built upon them. One of the lots was sold to a private individual and the other one, today the Alameda de León, became the potters' market, known as the Plazuela de Cantaros. The governor of the state, General Antonio de León, lived in front of this small plaza. In a conversation with his secretary, Benito Juárez, the idea arose of transforming it into a garden. The project was carried out in 1840 and a small replica of the Alameda of Mexico City was built. The new garden was inaugurated 13 October 1843 and named Alameda de León in honor of its founder.
The Central University Building
In 1848 a seminary school occupied the building. Then it became the celebrated Institute of Sciences. It was reconstructed between 1899 and 1901 in the European romantic style, an academic architectural style that flourished in the first half of the nineteenth century in Europe. In Oaxaca we received this influence at the end of the century during the Porfirio Díaz regime. Currently it is occupied by the School of Law and Social Sciences, a library, the main office of the Indigenous Theater, and the University Gym.
Plaza de la Danza and Jardín Socrates
The Church of Soledad's old plaza was transformed into a public garden in 1881 and was named Jardín Socrates. The garden was remodeled in 1981: flagstones were laid, installations for stalls were placed, and public bathrooms were installed. The plaza is located at the foot of Fortín Hill (previously called De La Soledad or Del Calvario). It forms part of the Church of Soledad and the Church of San José and their convents complex. The staggered squares form three different settings: the atrium of Soledad, the Jardín Socrates, and the Plaza de la Danza.
In 1959 Eduardo Vasconcelos built the uppermost terrace, the Plaza de la Danza, for the artistic edification and public use of the town. This is where the Bani Stui Gulal (repetition of antiquity) takes place, which is a representation of the history of the Guelaguetza during all of its different periods. The square is paved with cantera and takes advantage of the natural slope of the land for the stairways that connect it with the lower terraces.
El Llano Park
Paseo Juárez (El Llano) is one of the oldest and largest parks in the Centro Histórico. General Morelos created it to commemorate the civic-religious festival that celebrated the victory of the Movement of Independence. In 1894 a monument with a statue of Benito Juárez was placed in the park. The monument is characterized by its nationalist style of architecture. During the middle of the twentieth century the park served as zoo, which was closed in 1970, the year that the park was redesigned as it is at present. The park is located in the northwestern part of the Centro Histórico, in front of the Church of Guadalupe. El Llano is approximately 250 meters long and 75 meters wide. It has gardens, walkways, benches, and four large fountains.
Palacio de Gobeirno
The Palacio de Gobierno is on the southern side of the Zócalo. It is constructed in a Doric style and presently houses different government offices. At the top of the main staircase there is an impressive mural by the Mexican muralist Arturo García Bustos. The mural depicts historical and mythical events of Oaxaca City. The images are either realistic or imaginative in appearance. Among the images there are some of local celebrities who supported the arts and others who worked in politics.
Mercado Benito Juárez Maza
This is a great marketplace for those who want to buy handcrafted Oaxacan folk art. Among the great variety of products available are jewelry, textiles, ceramics, basketry, and jariaría (other woven palm goods). You will also find quesillo, as well as excellent knives and machetes. Among the other principal attractions are stalls that sell a wide variety of fruit, vegetables, and fruit waters.
3. - CRAFT ROUTES
CRAFT ROUTE A)
Mercado de Artesanías
This craft market is located on the corner of J.P. García and Zaragoza streets. It is open daily from 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. and has 123 stalls that sell clothing typical of the diverse regions of the state. It is two blocks south of the 20 de Noviembre Marketplace.
Santa María Atzompa
We suggest you begin a trip to here by visiting the Casa del Artesano, the ideal place to observe the processes involved in manufacturing beautiful, naturally colored pottery, and pottery with a green slip glazing. The enormous pots found here, made using ancient openwork techniques, are especially noteworthy. Atzompa is 8 kilometers from Oaxaca City.
San Antonio Arrazola
In Arrazola the local artisans make carvings from the wood of the copal tree, overturning normal artistic representations and expressing their artistic genius by creating an implausible animal kingdom: alebrijes (fantastically carved animal shapes which are then elaborately painted), which are exhibited for sale in the houses of the artisans and in different commercial centers in the city of Oaxaca. Arrazola is 12 kilometers down the highway leading to Zaachila. Take a right-hand turn before reaching Cuilapan and drive through Xoxo. After 3 ½ kilometers you will reach Arrazola.
CRAFT ROUTE B)
ARIPO
The Oaxacan State Government fosters the manufacture of handmade crafts through the Organismo Público Descentralizado Artesanías e Industrias Populares del Estado de Oaxaca, better known as ARIPO, whose main responsibilities are the promotion and organization of local crafts and the commercial development of them.
With this venture in mind they offer to businesses from all over the world the services of secure storage and the packaging of goods of optimum quality at a good price. ARIPO suggests the most secure and affordable means of shipping according to each destination; they also facilitate exportation and billing. The main center in Oaxaca City is on 809 García Vigil.
Mercado 20 de Noviembre
This market is located in the heart of the city, just to the south of the Mercado Benito Juárez Maza. It has many small restaurants specializing in typical Oaxacan dishes (chicken mole with rice, tamales wrapped in banana leaves, menudo, etc). It is bordered by Aldama, Miguel Cabrera, Mina, and 20 de Noviembre. To its left is the Church of San Juan de Dios, which is built upon the site of the first hermitage built in Oaxaca and dedicated to Santa Catalina de Alexandria in 1526.
San Bartolo Coyotepec
Coyotepec comes from the words coyotl (coyote), tepetl (hill), and c (on). Together they mean on the hill of the coyote. The main attraction here is the famous black pottery that the local potters make. These artisans achieve pieces of extraordinary beauty by using a technique of soaking and polishing. You can purchase pieces in the craft market. Coyotepec is 12 kilometers from Oaxaca City. Take Federal Highway 175 toward Puerto Ángel.
Santo Tomás Jalieza (Friday is Market Day)
The Zapotec word jalieza means under the church. It is composed of jana (below) and lieza (church). Jalieza is 25 kilometers (30 minutes) to the southeast of Oaxaca City on Federal Highway 175 going toward Puerto Ángel. Its archaeological zone (as yet unexplored) may compete in importance with that of Monte Albán. The inhabitants produce wool and cotton textiles on back-strap looms. Their designs are varied and range from prehispanic to modern. Among the most common products are clothing, embroidered blouses, vests, side bags, napkins, tablecloths, folders, belts, and friendship bracelets.
San Martín Tilcajete
The correct name of the town is Tlilcaxitl, which means black bowl. This town is renowned for the manufacture of alebrijes (the same as San Antonio Arrazola), an invented word that means “it is a difficult tangled thing and of a confused or fantastic shape,” carved from the wood of the copal tree and painted with elaborate colors and designs. Tilcajete is 21 kilometers (25 minutes) to the southeast of Oaxaca City. Take Federal Highway 175 toward Puerto Ángel.
Ocotlán de Morelos (Friday is Market Day)
One of its main attractions is the tianguis held here on Fridays. This is one of the largest tianguis in the Central Valleys. Special mention must be made of the rich ice-cream prepared with natural ingredients sold here, as well as of the varied typical cuisine among which the chocolate atole, pan de yema, and regional candies (all made with loving care in a provincial style) stand out. Among the other products found here are red clay ceramics, apaxtles (round, flat-bottom, thick-sided, multipurpose dishes), and rustic utensils for the kitchen. While in town ask around for the Aguilar sisters--famous local artisans.
Among the secular and religious fiestas held in town, the most important is dedicated to Cristo Señor de la Sacristía, which is held on the second Sunday in May. The headquarters of the Fundación Rodolfo Morales, who was an eminent Oaxacan painter, is also in Ocotlán. Through Morales' efforts the former-convent was returned to the public and restored. Ocotlán is 33 kilometers south of Oaxaca City.
4). THE ROUTE OF THE WEAVERS
Santa María el Tule
The main attraction here is a gigantic and remarkable sabino or ahuehuete (Montezuma cypress): the Arbol del Tule. This wonderful example of Oaxacan plant life is forty meters tall, has a diameter of about 53 meters, is estimated to weigh about 509 tons, and is approximately 2000 years old. This remarkable tree is near the sixteenth-century Church of Santa María del Tule. We suggest you visit the community craft market to savor the rich foods typical of the region. Tule is 12 kilometers from Oaxaca City alongside Federal Highway 190 heading toward the Isthmus of Tehuantepec.
Santa Cruz Papalutla
The indigenous inhabitants of Papalutla manufacture of reed-ware. They make many household items for daily use: baskets, birdcages, etc., as well as create decorative items. Papalutla is 34 kilometers (35 minutes) to the southeast of Oaxaca City. Take Federal Highway 190 toward Tehuantepec. Take the turnoff to Lachigoló and continue to Papalutla.
San Jerónimo Tlacochahuaya
In Náhuatl Tlacochahuaya means wet place. It is notable for its sixteenth-century Dominican buildings. Some of the original interior murals (painted using cochineal) are still preserved. Some of the retables painted by Juan de Arrué and a tubular polychrome organ from the seventeenth century have recently been restored. To get there from Oaxaca City take Federal Highway 190 toward Tehuantepec for 23 kilometers and then turn to the right for 2 kilometers.
Teotitlán del Valley
This is the major center in the state of Oaxaca for the weaving of wool rugs on wooden looms following colonial techniques. The wool of the rugs is colored with natural dyes such as indigo, moss, and grana cochineal. We especially recommend you visit the houses of the artisans to see the dyeing and weaving processes. There are also shops that sell rugs on the road into town.
Of particular interest in Teotitlán del Valley is the seventeenth-century Church of the Preciosa Sangre de Cristo, which is built upon a recently explored archaeological zone. Walk around and behind the church to see the recently uncovered Zapotec glyphs. Interesting stones with prehispanic carvings have recently been incorporated into the walls of the interior patio of the church. From Oaxaca City drive 28 kilometers along Federal Highway 190 toward the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. Then, take a left-hand turn and drive 2 kilometers to the center of town.
Santa Ana del Valley
This is a major textile-producing center. To the south of the main plaza is the community museum where you can see the rich textile tradition of Santa Ana: wool textiles, jorongos (serapes), wool rugs (rivaling those made in Teotitlan del Valle), morrales (sturdy woven bags), folders, and cotton clothing decorated with traditional or modern designs, which reflect their recent and prehispanic past. The rug market is the most important attraction in town.
There is an eighteenth-century baroque church here, the Church of Santa Ana. It has a two-level portada with a semicircular arch above the entryway. To get there from Oaxaca City take Federal Highway 190 toward Tehuantepec. Upon reaching Tlacolula, take the turnoff to Díaz Ordaz. After 3 1/2 kilometers you will get to Santa Anna del Valle (35 kilometers in total).
Tlacolula de Matamoros (Sunday is Market Day)
Tlacolula is 30 kilometers from Oaxaca City (heading toward the Isthmus). It has a large complex of seventeenth-century Dominican buildings including an extraordinary baroque chapel dedicated to El Señor de Tlacolula. On Sundays one of the largest indigenous tianguis in the Central Valleys is held here. Many different handmade items and exquisite regional food are sold here. The mescal sold here is of excellent quality and purity.
San Pablo Villa de Mitla
Mitla is home to a world famous Zapotec ceremonial center whose name in Náhuatl means inframundo (place of the dead). The Zapotecs called it lyobaa (place of burials). Mitla was home to some of the Zapotec priestly class and was first inhabited during the Classic period of Monte Albán (100-650). Mitla reached its zenith during the Post-classic period (). The city was built around five archaeological groups: Las Columnas, La Iglesia, El Arroyo, Los Adobes, and El Sur.
The Presidencia Municipal building has an interesting museum that contains early seventeenth-century maps of Mitla. The important Frisell Museum is in front of the Presidencia Municipal building and holds the most noteworthy collection of prehispanic Zapotec artifacts in the world. Mitla is 46 kilometers toward the Isthmus of Tehuantepec from Oaxaca City.
Hierve el Agua
This place is of singular interest due to its spectacular panoramic view, monolithic petrified waterfalls, and the remains of a prehispanic irrigation system (in use between 700 to 1350). It is divided into two distinct levels. On the lower level (accessible by trail) there are springs and the vestiges of an ancient irrigation system. On the upper level there are dressing rooms and a series of small swimming areas have been dug in an esplanade. The uppermost part of the upper level has diverse facilities for visitors including many small restaurants, lodging, and a full size swimming pool.
To get there from Oaxaca City take Federal Highway 190 toward the Isthmus. Upon reaching Mitla take the turnoff to Ayutla. After 17 kilometers take the turn to San Lorenzo Albarradas. After following this road for 5 kilometers you will arrive at Hierve el Agua. The drive is a total of 57 kilometers.
5). THE SIERRA JUAREZ ROUTES
ROUTE A)
El Punto Ixtepeji, Ixtlán
One of main attraction here is the panoramic landscape of oak and pine forests. The main economic activities of the locals includes the exploitation of the forest for wood, the raising of ornamental flowers and fruit trees, and the sale of bread and tortillas. The Del Monte restaurant offers a spectacular panoramic view and nearby there are cabins for rent. There is a vivero (nursery) 2 kilometers outside of town. Ixtepeji is approximately 30 kilometers from Oaxaca City along Federal Highway 175 heading toward Tuxtepec.
San Pablo Guelatao
This small, cheerful mountain town was the birthplace of Benito Juárez (also known as Benemérito de las Américas). Guelatao means tiny lake, and beside this small lake, the Laguna Encantada, there is a stone and bronze monument that depicts Juárez as a shepherd, as well as his mother, Doña Brígida García de Juárez. To get there from Oaxaca City take Federal Highway 175 for 55 kilometers toward Tuxtepec.
Ixtlán de Juárez (Monday is Market Day)
You should visit Ixtlán de Juárez on a Monday, as that is market day, when the inhabitants from the surrounding region converge here to sell their produce. The main attraction here is a churrigueresque seventeenth-century church dedicated to San Tomás. It has a beautiful entryway of pink cantera, a doorway and retables carved out of precious wood, and a baptismal font of sculpted cantera. Ixtlán is 3 kilometers from Guelatao.
Capulalpan de Méndez
There is a magnificent seventeenth-century church dedicated to San Mateo here. The church incorporates both baroque and neoclassic styles. The church has a number of retables from diverse periods--all of exquisite craftsmanship. The inhabitants of Capulalpan manufacture woolen textiles such as blankets, rugs, serapes, and beautifully embroidered clothing. Capulalpan is 10 kilometers from Ixtlán de Juárez.
Llano de las Flores
As you drive along toward Tuxtepec a great plain suddenly appears like a giant green carpet ready to receive visitors who want to explore this wonderful place, which nature took charge of endowing with a cool climate, an infinity of trees and flowers, and wonderful cascades. The Llano de las Flores is ideal for recreational activities like mountain biking, fishing, camping, horseback riding, mountain climbing, and guided excursions. A great variety of rare floral species abounds in this evocative setting in the Sierra Juárez. There is an immense feeling of serenity here that you can take advantage of to recuperate from the fatigues produced by the quick rhythm of urban life. The Llano de las Flores is 90 kilometers from Oaxaca City.
San Bartolomé Zoogocho (Thursday is Market Day)
Zoogocho means “rotten soil” in Zapotec. It is located in the Sierra Juárez and its main attraction is its Thursday market, where the local indigenous inhabitants come together to sell and to barter. It is about 120 kilometers from Oaxaca City.
ROUTE B)
San Mateo Macuilxochitl
The main attraction here is the seventeenth-century Church of San Mateo. Its portada of sculpted cantera is divided into two bodies separated by an entablature. The main entryway has a semicircular arch supported by pilasters. In the second level, there is an octagonal choir window. San Mateo Macuilxochitl is 16 kilometers (20 minutes) from Oaxaca City. Take Federal Highway 190 and follow it for about 14 kilometers. Then, take a left-hand turn and follow it for 2 kilometers.
Benito Juárez, Lachatao
Lachatao is in the Sierra Norte region, where the climate is cool and the land is rugged and mountainous. Here you will find many streams and rivers. Corn, beans, potatoes, apples, plums, and pears are all grown here. Among its principal tourist attractions are cozy cabins and a mirador (outlook), from where the Central Valleys and the Peak of Mount Orizaba (on a clear day) can be seen. Lachatao is approximately 84 kilometers to the northwest of Oaxaca City.
6). CHURCHES AND EX-CONVENTS, AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL ROUTES
ROUTE A)
The Church of Santa María del Marquisado
The church is located in the neighborhood of the Marquisado, or the old town of Santa María del Marquisado, founded by Francisco of Orozco after the conquest of Oaxaca in 1523. Later the town belonged to Hernán Cortés. The church was initially a late sixteenth-century hermitage dedicated to Santa María. The most interesting artistic works in this church are statues of the Virgin de los Reyes. The main statue is a neo-Gothic work of joined wood. The main retable of the chapel has neoclassic elements and is finished in veneered wood. The classic portada has baroque elements and is composed of two bodies. The lower body has a central entrance with a semicircular arch. The upper body has two grooved pilasters. The remate is an open fronton containing a niche.
The Church and Ex-Convento de la Merced
This group of buildings, located in Oaxaca City, was created to provide a secure midpoint for communication between Mexico City and the missionary area of Guatemala. It was founded by the Hermanos de Nuestra Señora de la Redención (or de La Merced) by Royal decree on 23 January 1598. Upon the nationalization of the Church’s properties, the friars were evicted, but the church remained open for public worship. Bishop Gillow acquired it in 1898 and began its restoration. This religious complex was declared a historical monument in December 1933.
The Church of the Siete Príncipes
The main architectural attraction of the Church of the Siete Príncipes (Seven Archangels) is its arcaded portico, which supports the rear portion of the outward extension of the raised choir. Along with the Church of Carmen Alto, these are the only churches in Oaxaca with this architectural element.
The adjacent former-convent has ornate decorations over the entryway. The doorjambs and lintel are decorated with rhombus shapes and flowers. The interior has two cloisters, one of which has two stories, while the other is single storied. Both cloisters have arcaded corridors on their four sides. The ceilings of both are noteworthy for their cross vaults and beams. In the main cloister there is an outstanding octagonal fountain made of finely sculpted cantera. The old dormitories, dining room, chapter room, and other rooms of the convent have been converted into spaces for teaching and for expressing Oaxacan culture.
The Church of Carmen Bajo
The church is built upon the site of a hermitage that was founded in 1554 and razed by fire in 1862. The hermitage was built of adobe, had a thatch roof, and was called Las Lagrimas de San Pedro. When the new church was dedicated to the Virgen del Carmen, it soon began to be called Carmen Bajo to differentiate it from the Church of Carmen Alto. The Church of Carmen Bajo has a floor plan in the form of a Latin cross. There are two adjoining chapels, some small rooms, and two small atriums. A single long barrel vault covers the nave.
Huijazoo (Suchilquitongo)
Huijazoo was an important hilltop government center for the western part of the Valley of Etla during the Classic period (A.D. 250-800). This site controlled commerce between the Central Valleys and the Cañada region. Huijazoo stands out due to its hilltop location that reproduces, on a smaller scale, the layout used in Monte Albán. There is a tomb here decorated with polychrome murals in a perfect state of preservation (currently closed to the public). To get to Santiago Suchilquitongo from Oaxaca City take Federal Highway 190 toward Mexico City for 27 kilometers and turn left and go 2 kilometers. Drive uphill from the church.
San José el Mogote
Among the main structures of this archaeological site are its famous adoratorios (places of worship). Human occupation at San José el Mogote goes back to 1500 B C. It was the most important urban center in the Central Valleys before Monte Albán was founded. Archaeological exploration carried out here has been decisive for unraveling the history of the region. Its urban distribution and the architectural characteristics of its buildings allow us to deduce that it was the headquarters of a markedly elitist social organization. Many of the objects recovered during excavation are on exhibit in the small community museum located in a part of the old hacienda. This museum is one of the thirteen community museums found in Oaxaca, where you can learn about the history and customs of the different communities. From Oaxaca City go 12 kilometers down Federal Highway 190 toward Mexico City, then take the turnoff to the left and go 1 1/2 kilometers.
Villa de Etla (Wednesday is Market Day)
The construction of the church, convent, and the town of Etla began after Dominicans had an aqueduct constructed to a hill to the east of the current town. On the west side of the cloister there is a plaque with the following inscription: “It began and was finished in the year 1636,” although Padre Burgoa states that Padres José Calderón and Alfonso Espinoza began construction in 1620. This architectural group includes a large walled atrium, a church, and to the right the convent. On the eastern side is the Capilla del Santísimo that communicates with the presbytery of the church via a passageway through the wall. In the church there is a seventeenth-century table with legs adorned with carved with zoomorphic figures. Etla is 19 kilometers (30 minutes) to the northwest of Oaxaca City. Take Federal Highway 131.
San Pablo Huitzo
In the Zapotec language huitzo means watchtower of war. This site dominates a great part of the Etla Valley and was the natural frontier between the Zapotec and Mixtec Kingdoms (who were almost always at war). There is a large unexplored archaeological zone here that was inhabited at least as early as 1000 B.C. A great mound has been discovered in the barrio of Rosario that was built before the foundation of Monte Albán. A small tomb predating the Spanish conquest containing polychrome ceramics, amethyst beads, and obsidian knives was discovered in Huitzo. From Oaxaca City take Federal Highway 190 toward Mexico City to San Pablo Huitzo.
ROUTE B)
The Church of the Santísima Trinidad
Its historical antecedents go back to the time of the foundation of the Villa de Antequera, which Alonso Bravo García laid out in 1529. The local Mixtecs and Zapotecs constituted the manpower for the construction of the new city. They founded the adjacent barrio of the Santísima Trinidad where many of them spent their spare time performing agricultural activities. For this reason the barrio is known as Trinidad de las Huertas (market gardens). The first chapel was built at the end of the sixteenth century. Later reconstructions have given us the present Church of the Santísima Trinidad.
The Church of Nuestra Señora de la Consolación
The construction of the first church, dedicated to Nuestra Señora de la Consolación, was carried out between 1656 and 1661. In 1679 the Carmelites used it before they founded their convent. It has two atriums, one in front of the main facade and the other to the south (between the parochial annex and the church). The main facade, located to the east, has a portada and two bell towers. There are also two hermitages between the buttresses of the towers, which resemble two other entrances.
The Church of Nuestra Señora de las Nieves
Originally the church was the chapel for the San Juan Seminary, founded by Jesuits in 1579. In 1596 the school was closed, but the chapel continued to evolve during subsequent centuries. After the seminary was closed the chapel was replaced with a new church dedicated to San Juan; however, currently it is dedicated to Nuestra Señora de las Nieves.
The Church and Ex-convent of Guadalupe
In 1644 Bishop Bartolomé Ledesma founded a hermitage here with an annex that served as a hospital. Bishop Bartolomé de la Cerda had a church built that was dedicated to the Virgin of Guadalupe, which was consecrated in 1650. One year later, it was reconstructed and re-inaugurated by Bishop Monterroso. The church and its annexes were occupied by the Belemnite Order toward the last third of the sixteenth century. The main facade of the complex is fronted by a wide square and, in general, the buildings are plain with engraved cantera doorways. Inside the church an image of the Virgin of Guadalupe and an eighteenth-century oil painting of the Virgin crowned by the Holy Trinity stand out. In the Belén Chapel look for the main neo-Gothic retable adorned with oil paintings.
Monte Albán
This archeological site was the ancient Zapotec capital and one of the first cities in Mesoamerica. It was also one of the most populous cities in Mesoamerica during its peak (it had more than 25,000 inhabitants). It was founded around 500 B.C. and flourished up to around A.D. 750. Located in the center of the Valleys of Oaxaca, Monte Albán exercised political, economic, and ideological control over the other communities of the surrounding valleys and mountains. The main attractions here are: The Great Plaza, The Ball Court, System II, The Danzantes, Building J, Central Buildings G, H, and I, The Palace, The South Platform, System 7 Deer, and Tomb 7. The Great Plaza is 200 meters long by 200 meters wide. To build the Great Plaza rocky bulges were trimmed off and depressions were filled in.
The Mexican archaeologist Dr. Alfonso Caso was in charge of the first exploration and restoration of the site. Based on his architectural studies of the buildings, tombs, ceramics, and jewelry, he determined that Monte Albán's history was divided into five different periods based upon changes in social organization, population density, and trade: Mount Albán I, II, III, IV, and V. On the hillsides that surround the Main Plaza there are tombs, burials, and diverse structures identified as residences. There is a museum at the entrance to Monte Albán and just onsite there is a scale-model of Monte Albán where the visitor will be able to get a perspective of the places they will visit in the archaeological zone. Monte Albán is 10 kilometers from Oaxaca City.
Cuilapam de Guerrero
Its name in Náhuatl, coyolapan, means tinted river, or rattles over the water. There is a magnificent religious complex here built by Dominicans in the sixteenth century: an ex-convent, a church with a single nave, and an open-air chapel for the indigenous population. Here you can also see vestiges of Martín Cortés’ hacienda (to the south of the Municipal Palace). Cuilapam is 12 kilometers from Oaxaca City. To get there take the highway toward Zaachila.
Villa de Zaachila (Thursday is Market Day)
In Zapotec, zaachila yoo means fortress of zaachila. Prehispanic traditions and customs are still strongly preserved here. They are especially evident during the tianguis that is held here on Thursdays, which is famous for its black clay ceramics and rich cuisine. You will find a great variety of typical Oaxacan dishes served here. Zaachila is 17 kilometers (25 minutes) to the southeast of Oaxaca City.
The archaeological zone here has been partially explored. It is believed to have been occupied between A.D. 1. The main site consists of a great artificial pyramid and a series of mounds. It is highlighted by the burial chambers found in Mound A. Two of these tombs are noteworthy for their burial contents: Tomb 1 and Tomb 2.
ROUTE C)
San Jerónimo Tlacochahuaya
In Náhuatl Tlacochahuaya means wet place. It is notable for its sixteenth-century Dominican buildings. Some of the original interior murals (painted with cochineal) are still preserved. Some of the retables painted by Juan de Arrué and a tubular polychrome organ from the seventeenth century have recently been restored. To get there from Oaxaca City take Federal Highway 190 toward Tehuantepec for 23 kilometers and then turn to the right for 2 kilometers.
Dainzú
This small archaeological site has a world-renowned wall with bas-relief stone carvings of ball players in full attire in full action, as well four figures that probably represent of the four gods of fire. Dainzú is 20 kilometers from Oaxaca City, just off Federal Highway 190 heading toward Tehuantepec.
Lambityeco
Here there is a recently excavated archaeological site that was inhabited during Monte Albán IV (A.D. 600-750) whose name means mounds for stills. (Salt was distilled from a naturally occurring salty dirt found here). There are buildings constructed partly in stone and partly in adobe, with the exception of a flat-topped pyramid (probably the site of a Zapotec market) that is covered with carved stone. The upper part displays an array of intricate geometric figures. Lambityeco is 28 kilometers from Oaxaca City, just off Federal Highway 190 heading toward the Isthmus.
Yagul
This important prehispanic center (whose name means stick or old tree) has the largest ball court of the Oaxacan region and the second largest in Mesoamerica. The most interesting structure in Yagul is the Palace of the Six Patios, an intricate structure composed of numerous rooms with a complex distribution and intercommunication that leads us think that it could have been a governmental residence. The hill-site of Yagul is 36 kilometers from Oaxaca City, and a few kilometers off and uphill from Federal Highway 190 heading toward Tehuantepec.
San Pablo Villa de Mitla
Mitla is home to a world-famous Zapotec ceremonial center whose name in Náhuatl means inframundo (place of the dead). The Zapotecs called it lyobaa (place of burials). Mitla was the home to some of the Zapotec priestly class and was first inhabited during the Classic period of Monte Albán (100-650). Mitla reached its zenith during the Post-classic period (). The city was built around five archaeological groups: Las Columnas, La Iglesia, El Arroyo, Los Adobes, and El Sur.
The Presidencia Municipal building has an interesting museum that contains early seventeenth-century maps of Mitla. The important Frisell Museum is in front of the Presidencia Municipal building and holds the most notable collection of prehispanic Zapotec artifacts in the world. Mitla is 46 kilometers toward the Isthmus of Tehuantepec from Oaxaca City.
7). THE DOMINICAN ROUTE
Santo Domingo Yanhuitlán
In Náhuatl yanhuitlán means new town. The Mixtecs called it yosocahui: the new plain. Here you will find the Church and Ex-convent of Santo Domingo, an architectural complex that at its peak was the second most important part of the Dominican’s holdings in the Oaxacan region. It is one of the most outstanding examples of sixteenth-century architecture in New Spain. The buildings were erected upon an enormous prehispanic platform. Although some modifications were made in the eighteenth century, it preserves many of its original paintings and sculptures, among which the main attraction is the sixteenth-century main retable painted by Andrés de la Concha de Seville. To get there from Oaxaca City take Federal Highway 190 toward Mexico City. At kilometer 119 (look for the kilometer signs along the road) you will reach Santo Domingo Yanhuitlán. You can also get to this charming place by taking the turnoff in Nochixtlán.
San Pedro and San Pablo Teposcolula
The Dominicans settled here in 1541 and began the construction of one of their most outstanding groups of religious buildings in New Spain shortly afterward. It has a magnificent open chapel that is one of the finest examples of sixteenth-century architecture in Oaxaca. The church had two choirs, one for singers and another for musicians. Early on the chapel was adorned with a retable painted by Andrés de la Concha and Andrés Pereyns. Some of their works are still preserved inside the church. Teposculula is 23 kilometers past Santo Domingo Yanhuitlán. To get there take the turnoff to Tlaxiaco from Federal Highway 190 heading toward Mexico City.
San Martín Huamelulpan
The Church of San Martin was constructed upon a prehispanic platform. Its facade has a portada and a bell tower. The main entrance has a semicircular arch supported by pilasters. Prehispanic sculptures have been embedded in the external walls. To get here from Oaxaca City take the Super Highway toward Mexico City and exit at Nochixtlan onto Federal Highway 190. Go 30 kilometers to the turnoff to Tlaxiaco. There, turn onto Federal Highway 125 and drive 40 kilometers to Huamelulpan.
Tlaxiaco (The Market Day is Friday)
For millennia Tlaxiaco has been a crossroads for different races and cultures. In prehispanic times the Mixtecas called it place of the good view, while the Mexicans knew it as the grove of the ball game. The facade of the church is neoclassic. The convent has low vaults and the ceiling is supported by beams. It has three dormitories that surround the southern side of the church.
Commercial activity, although today on a smaller scale than in colonial times, can be seen in the main square where a market is held every Friday. Around the old clock (installed in the center of the square in 1848) there are stalls protected from the rays of the sun by multicolored tarps. The surrounding Mixtecs all go down to town to buy the machetes and tools they use in their daily work. People buy and sell hats, rush mats, and many items made out of palm, as well as the woolen blankets that are so necessary in this area. The Tlaxiaco market is a good example of how the indigenous economy worked before the arrival of the Spaniards.
San Juan Bautista Coixtlahuaca
This beautiful Dominican complex was finished in 1576 (according to the date on its facade). The complex is made up of a church, cloister, open chapel, and an atrium. Together they make this one of the most intriguing examples of the art and architecture of sixteenth-century New Spain. Its decorations, mainly those on the exterior of the church, present very novel features. There are magnificent sculptures on the facade, highlighted by a group formed by San Juan Bautista flanked by San Pedro and the Apostle Santiago. There are also a series of niches in the shape of shells, large rosettes, medallions, and symbols of the passion on the facade. From Oaxaca City take the turnoff to Coixtlahuaca from the Super Highway that goes to Mexico City. After 2 kilometers you will reach the Church and Ex-convent of San Juan Bautista Coixtlahuaca.
Villa de Tamazulapam del Progresso
Tamazulapam (pond of the frogs) has a beautiful sixteenth-century church, as well as elegant pink cantera gateways in front of the town hall and a famous spa of sulfurous waters. You can buy handmade palm craftwork such as hats, folders, and tortilleros (tortilla holders) or nutritious wheat tortillas here. It is 160 kilometers from Oaxaca City. Take Federal Highway 190 to the turnoff to Coixtlahuaca.
Huajuapam de León
Huajuapam (acacias next to the river) is famous for producing great historical characters such as Valerio Trujano, Antonio de León y Loyola, and Doña Micaela Galindo. It is an important commercial center for products made from palms. From here you can visit the archaeological sites of Cerro de las Minas, el Somberito, and Malinaltepec. Huajuapam is 203 kilometers from Oaxaca City. Take Federal Highway 190 toward Mexico City
Yosocuta Dam
The contrast found here between the reservoir and the gentle arid landscape is well worth seeing. In 1976 a fish-hatchery was created for breeding lobina negra (black bass), moharra (two banded bream), and Israeli carp. Annual fishing tournaments are hosted here in the months of September and October. They are organized by the Sociedad Cooperativa de Producción Pesquera y Prestación de Servicios Turísticos. This cooperative has boats for visitors who want to go out on the calm waters of the reservoir. So that the visitor’s stay here is more pleasant an area has been developed on the bank of the reservoir with a kiosk, a wading pool, children’s games, basketball and volleyball courts, bungalows, a restaurant, bathrooms, and secure parking. The Yosocuta dam is 12 kilometers to the southwest of Huajuapam de León.
Cerro de las Minas
This was one of the main centers of the Ñuiñe culture, a local variant of the Mixtec culture and was first occupied around 400 B.C., although its cultural peak corresponds to the Classic period of Monte Albán (between A.D. 300-800) after which it was abandoned. The site is large and extends along the sides of a hill where artificial terraces were constructed for the residences. Its ceremonial center is characterized by large constructions (among which a large ball court stands out) distributed around plazas at different levels, stairways, and retaining walls. The Cerro de las Minas archeological site lies to the north of Huajuapan de León and is 193 kilometers from Oaxaca City along Federal Highway 190 heading toward Mexico City.
8). ROUTES TO THE COAST
To get to Puerto Escondido from Oaxaca City you have two options:
A) - Federal Highway Oaxaca - Pochutla - Puerto Escondido (314 Kilometers)
B) - Federal Highway Oaxaca - Sola de Vega - Puerto Escondido (254 Kilometers)
ROUTE A)
Ocotlán de Morelos (Friday is Market Day)
One of its main attractions is its Friday tianguis. This is one of the largest markets held in the Central Valleys. Special mention must be made of the rich ice-cream prepared with natural ingredients that is sold here, as well as the pan de yema, and the regional candies (all made with loving care in a provincial style). The major beverage attraction here is chocolate atole. Among the other products sold in the market are red-clay ceramics: pots and apaxtles (round, flat-bottom, thick-sided, multipurpose dishes), as well as rustic utensils for the kitchen. While visiting Ocotlán ask around for the Aguilar sisters--famous local potters.
Among the secular and religious fiestas held in town, the most important is dedicated to Cristo Señor de la Sacristía. This fiesta is held on the second Sunday in May. The headquarters of the Rodolfo Morales Foundation (he was an eminent Oaxacan painter) is located here in Ocotlán. Through Morales' efforts the former-convent was restored and returned to the public. Ocotlán is 33 kilometers south of Oaxaca City.
Ejutla de Crespo (Thursday is Market Day)
Ejutla means place of ejotes (string beans). Agriculture is the mainstay of the economy of this region, which is located between the ranges of the Southern Sierra Madre. Ejutla produces tannin from oak, sugarcane, figs, nopal, reeds, fruit trees, cantaloupes, and watermelons. There are also small industries here which produce cutlery and leather goods like sandals. The famous mescal of Amatengo (a small, nearby town) deserves special mention. A tianguis is held here on Thursdays. This picturesque town is 60 kilometers from Oaxaca City. Take Federal Highway 175 south.
San José del Pacífico
This is a small town located in the highest part of the Oaxacan Sierra Sur. San José del Pacífico is a great place to rest up or to enjoy a good stew and a cup of coffee in a cool climate with a majestic landscape. It has great landscapes and the surrounding mountains are perfect for ecotourism activities and camping. There are cabins and restaurants here. From Oaxaca City take Federal Highway 175 toward Puerto Ángel. After 130 kilometers you will reach San José del Pacífico.
San Pedro Pochutla
This is the head of the San Pedro Pochutla District. Its name is of Nahuatl origin and it means where pochotle is plentiful. The residents of this region are dedicated to farming and growing coffee, coconuts, corozo palms, mangos, tamarinds, plums and jamaica. Pochutla is 233 kilometers to the south of Oaxaca City. Take Federal Highway 175.
ROUTE B)
San Sebastian de las Grutas
This town has a system of caverns with several branches, only one of which has been fully explored. It is the only one accessible to tourists and is approximately 400 meters long from the entrance to the exit. It has five chambers of from 20 to 70 meters in height. There are calcareous formations that resemble human figures, animals, and common objects. The cavern has a small stream with pools. Guides are available.
There is a recreational area next to the grotto that has meadows, and cedar, mahogany, flambollante, and paraíso trees. A spring of crystalline water flows out of this cavern next to a group of willows that are more than 60 meters high. Overall this recreational area has a very pleasant landscape. There are palapas (thatched open huts), barbeque pits, and cabins for lodging. The spring becomes the San Sebastián River, which flows into the Atoyak River.
El Vado
El Vado is a wooded stream that flows parallel to the road leading to the caves of San Sebastián. In its bed the water forms small natural ponds that are fed by the ojo de agua (spring) located at the foot of the caverns. The cuisine of the region is unique, you should try the exquisite “tamales de Sola” and the fried meat. We invite you to try the Mescal Tobalá.
Sola de Vega
Apart from being a stopping place for the thousands of pilgrims that are headed to the sanctuary of Santa Catarina Juquila, this small town has a beautiful landscape formed by the Sola River, which is bordered by innumerable sabinos.
Santa Catarina Juquila
The topography of this area allows you to see beautiful green landscapes of pine and oak forests. The streets and sidewalks of Juquila are curvaceous and steep. Santa Catarína Juquila is famous for its sanctuary dedicated to the Santísima Virgen de Juquila, worshipped by thousands of believers who converge here throughout the year from different parts of the Mexican Republic and Central and South America. These pilgrims come to visit the sanctuary and at the same time to ask the Virgin of Juquila for favors and to thank her for favors granted. The fiesta of the Virgin of Juquila is celebrated on 8 December with a great public fair that begins with prayers followed by fireworks. There are carnival rides and other events. The fiesta ends with a public dance.
9). THE COASTAL ROUTE
Puerto Escondido
This picturesque corner of the Mexican Pacific Coast is known as the Emerald Coast due to the color of its waters. Puerto Escondido was once a quiet fishing town that has become a tourist paradise due to its natural magnificence, such as that found on its beaches of fine, white sand, and in its crystalline waters. Currently it has most of the services that tourists demand: lodging, food, entertainment, and facilities for aquatic sports. The beaches are: Bacocho, Carrizalillo, Puerto Angelito, Puerto Piedra, La Capitanía, Marinero, and Zicatela (which is famous for the international surfing tournament that is held during November). Joined to its natural attractions are cultural ones, represented by the inhabitant’s tradition of always being cheerful and colorful. This tourist mecca is 318 kilometers (five hours) to the south of Oaxaca City. Take Federal Highway 175 and follow it until reaching Federal Highway 200. Here, exit and follow the signs to Puerto Escondido.
The Lagoons of Manialtepec
The Manialtepec Lagoons are a charming place located 16 kilometers from Puerto Escondido in the middle of a wild, jungle world. On the north side of the river are the Loaza and Alipudría Lagoons, where launch operators offer cruises. The main attraction here is the diverse wildlife.
The Lagoons of Chacahua
TheChacahua Lagoons National Park is bursting with tropical vegetation, has a turtle sanctuary, and is the natural habitat of local and migratory birds. A crocodile hatchery for repopulation and investigation work has been established here. Visitors can fish, dive, take boating tours, or simply admire the rich flora and fauna. This national park is 74 kilometers from Puerto Escondido; the last 28 kilometers are along a well-maintained unpaved road.
Pinotepa Nacional
Pinotepa Nacional is on the westernmost portion of the Oaxacan Coast. It is a land of people who love dancing and a good time, are cheerful, witty, festive, friendly, and hardworking. During the Guelaguetza their dances with their steamy “chilena” rhythm infect the onlookers with the festive emotions of the men-of-the-sea and of the coastal woman. Pinotepa is a world of colors that is reflected in the red color of the skirts of the women, the multicolored glass beads on their blouses, and the colorful ribbons braided around their black hair while they dance. They also embroider beautiful blouses by hand and make enredos (wrap-around skirts) colored with cochineal on waist looms. The name pinotepa comes from Náhuatl and means toward the eroded hill. During the colonial period the town was known as Pinotepa del Rey, a name that changed after Independence to Pinotepa del Estado, and then later to Pinotepa Nacional.
Mazunte
Mazunte is to the west of San Agustinillo and 10 kilometers from Puerto Ángel. Paved roads connect Mazunte to both towns. The internationally renowned Centro Mexicana de la Tortuga Marina (Mexican Center of the Marine Turtle) is located near Mazunte Beach, which is on mar abierto (directly open to the sea). The beach is more than a kilometer long and is about 50 meters wide. The sand is golden and fine. The water is warm and crystalline with green and blue tones of color. The slope of the beach and the surf are moderate. The atmosphere of the beach and that of San Agustinillo is quite tranquil. There are good restaurants here and cabins for overnight lodging.
Puerto Ángel
This calm port of fishermen is rustic and exceptionally beautiful. It is surrounded by high cliffs covered with exuberant vegetation. It has clean beaches and the sea has intense colors, with differing sizes of surf. In 1868 it became the most important port of Oaxaca because shipments of coffee and of wood were made from here. Currently its main attractions are its nearby beaches: La Escobilla, Zipolite (famous for its ecotourism and nudist beach), Mazunte (that has the Centro Mexicano de la Tortuga Marina), Principal, and Panteón. There are restaurants specializing in seafood and there are launch tours. Puerto Ángel, although still in the beginning stages of development, has modest tourist services including a three star hotel and diverse taverns, restaurants, and lodging.
The Bays of Huatulco
The Bays of Huatulco tourism development is located on the southern coast of the state and has a surface area of 19,000 hectares, which encompasses nine beautiful bays. From north to south they are: San Agustín, Chachacual, Cacaluta, Maguey, Organo, Santa Cruz, Chahué, Tangolunda, and Conejos. The Bays of Huatulco is a paradise of beaches, rivers, mountains, hillsides, and valleys. The climate, as is that of the rest of the region, is warm with a median annual temperature of 28 degrees centigrade.
Huatulco has an ample and modern hotel infrastructure of nearly 1,800 rooms (rated between 2 and 5 stars). It has all the services that a traveler who is looking for relaxation, comfort, and security could desire. Huatulco has a great selection of restaurants for all tastes and budgets, with a great variety of dishes typical of the region and of the state, as well as national and international cuisine. It is located 140 kilometers from Salina Cruz.
10). THE ISTHMUS ROUTE
Salina Cruz
Salina Cruz is 140 kilometers from the Bays of Huatulco tourist complex. It is an important port that owes its name to the existence of numerous salt-works in its surrounding environs. Its climate is hot and its economy is based upon on the oil industry, fishing, and commerce. It has shrimp packinghouses, naval installations, jetties, and the lighthouse of Cortés. Among its beaches, the most prominent are: la Ventosa, la Barra de Tehuantepec, Guelaguichi, Playa Azul, and Chipehua.
Santo Domingo Tehuantepec
This town is renowned and admired for the splendid attire of its women, which often includes lace, embroidery, and jewelry. It has magnificent buildings like the sixteenth-century Convent of Santo Domingo, the Church of the Virgin de la Asuncion, a cathedral, and secular buildings such as the nineteenth-century municipal palace. Nearby there are natural spas of singular beauty such as Tlacotepec and Laollaga. The citizens devote special importance to religious festivities known as “Velas” held during the months of May and September.
Juchitán de Zaragoza
This town has a warm climate. Its name in Náhuatl means among or between the flowers. Its economy revolves around agriculture and the manufacture of crafts such as woven palm, ceramics, gold work, and the making of their regionally typical attire. It is 26 kilometers from Tehuantepec.
Exiting Toward the State of Chiapas
Follow Federal Highway 190 from Zaragoza and after 260 kilometers you will reach Tuxtla Gutiérrez, the capital of the neighboring state of Chiapas.
GENERAL INFORMATION
Geography
The state of Oaxaca is located in the south of the Mexican Republic. In the north, it adjoins the states of Puebla and Vera Cruz, to the east the state of Chiapas, to the west the state of Guerrero, and to the south is the Pacific Ocean. With a surface area of 95,364 square kilometers (59,258 square miles), Oaxaca has (on its mountains, valleys, canyons, and beaches) the largest biodiversity found in Mexico.
Population
The state has approximately three and a half million inhabitants, the majority of whom are Mestizos. In its vast area there are sixteen ethnic groups that live together with their respective languages and dialects, giving Oaxaca one of the foremost and richest cultural heritages in Mexico and in the world.
Climates and Seasons
Due to its topography, Oaxaca presents a variety of climates. On the Oaxacan Coast, where the tourist destinations of Puerto Escondido and the Bays of Huatulco are located, the average temperature is around 27+ degrees centigrade. In Oaxaca City, located in the Central Valleys, the yearly average temperature is around 22 degrees centigrade.
Monthly Median Temperature of Oaxaca City
January 17.1º C
February 18.9º C
March 20.7º C
April 22.4º C
May 22.6º C
June 21.8º C
July 20.0º C
August 20.6º C
September 20.5º C
October 19.5º C
November 18.4º C
December 17.4º C
Social and Political Structure
Mexico is a democratic country and is governed by the Constitution of Mexico written in 1917. The Mexican Federal Government consists of an executive branch, represented by the president of the republic, and legislative and judicial branches. The states of Mexico, such as Oaxaca, have the same political structure as the rest of the country: an executive branch represented by a governor, and legislative and judicial branches.
Language
In the Mexican Republic the official language is Spanish; however, there are fifty-four indigenous languages spoken among 8 percent of the population. Sixteen languages and their dialectal variants are spoken in the state of Oaxaca.
Economy
Mexico practices a free market economy; however, certain segments of the economy are regulated by the government.
Currency
The monetary units in Mexico are the centavo (one hundredth of a peso) and the peso. The peso is represented by the symbol $. Coins come in denominations of 10, 20 and 50 centavos and 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, and 100 pesos(a special silver-core edition). Bills in denominations of 20, 50, 100, 200, and 500 pesos are in circulation.
Religion
The Catholic religion prevails among nearly 90 percent of Mexicans; although, within the Mexico many other religions are practiced with complete freedom; the case holds true in the state of Oaxaca.
Public Telephones
In Oaxaca, as in all of Mexico, there is an extensive network of public telephones. Public telephones operate with $30, $50 and $100 peso debit-cards that may be purchased in newspaper stands, stores, and supermarkets. Local, national, and international calls may be made from any public telephone either by paying for the call or by calling collect. For collect calls you must use an operator. Dial 020 for collect calls within Mexico and 090 for international collect calls. Toll free 800 phone service exists in all of Mexico. To place a call to an 800 number inside Mexico dial 01 800 followed by the number. To place a call to a 1 800 number in the United States from Mexico dial 001 880 and the number. To call an 800 number in Mexico from abroad, check with your local phone company.
Important Phone Numbers
Ministry of Tourism in U.S. MEXICO
Ministry of Tourism in Mexico
Telegrams and Faxes
The Mexican Telegraph Service offers national and international service. Money orders may be sent to Mexico via Western Union. Faxes may be sent through Telcom.
Postal Service
The Mexican Postal Service covers the entire Mexican Republic, and offers air, surface, and certified mail, money orders, stamps, post office boxes, general delivery, and the courier service: Mexpost.
Internet
Oaxaca and Mexico are served by multitudinous Internet providers, some are fast and others are slow during peak hours, shop around.
Publications
Several important newspapers, magazines and weekly publications are published in Spanish in Mexico and a few in English. Major international publications such as the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Le Monde and El País are available. These foreign publications and most national publications may be obtained in Oaxaca City, as well as several local publications.
Tipping
As in many other parts of the world, throughout Mexico and Oaxaca it is customary to tip between 10 to 15 percent on food and beverage consumption and other services.
Health Precautions
In Oaxaca and in Mexico, on the average, the water is drinkable; however, it is susceptible to contamination during transit or during storage; it is advisable, as a preventive measure, to use bottled water.
Electricity
Mexico operates on the 110-volt, 60-cycle system. Travelers using appliances that require another voltage or a different type of plug would be wise to carry the necessary adaptors with them.
Retranslation and edited by Steven Turner of the SEDETUR Oaxaca State Tourism Guide. Contact Steve Turner at for style sheets developed during the course of this translation. The rest of the text is newly translated for the first time.
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