PHOTO ART
SIERRA CASA AZUL
This imposing and noble nineteenth century home, cataloged as a Historical Monument of the Nation, is now a gorgeous hotel located in the heart of downtown Oaxaca. The luxury hotel features a characteristic colonial courtyard with a fountain in the center of the property. With beautifully preserved wooden gates, doors, and archways among its chief architectural elements, Sierra Casa Azul is a stunning place to visit or stay the night.
TLACOLULA MARKET
On Sundays, Tlacolula Market is full of fantastic food, local artisans, colorful plants, dried peppers, seeds, and almost anything else you can imagine. Many people from the surrounding villages come to buy and sell their wares in Tlacolula, so a variety of languages are heard everywhere, including Zapotec, Triqui, Chinantec, Amuzgo, Mixe and others that belong to the 16 ethnic groups of the region. Vendors from remote mountain communities wear their best outfits that help savvy buyers recognize their origin by the colors and designs. The women of Tlacolula look very traditional with their flowered blouses and skirts, long braids, and colored silk scarves around their heads, sometimes adorned with coins.
AGAVE FIELDS
The agave fields in Oaxaca are the source of Mezcal, a distillate made from this iconic plant of Mexico. It’s one of the world’s most diverse and complex spirits, and plays an important role in the culture of the places where it’s made. In Oaxaca, where the great majority of mezcal comes from, it’s not just a drink but also forms a part of community identity. It’s consumed in celebrations, but also used in rituals and for healing purposes. The agave plant itself is beautiful to look at due to its sharp spikes and fleshy, fibrous leaves.
ALEBRIJES
One of the most recognizeable forms of folk art in Mexico are Alebrijes, which are whimsical, brightly colored sculptures of fantastical or mythical creatures. Since its origins in Mexico City in the 1930’s, this art form has spread across the country and taken on diverse regional characteristics which make it popular with collectors and tourists alike. Oaxacan Alebrijes are made of carved copal wood and decorated with elaborate, intricate patterns of vibrant, colored paint.
Alebrijes came to prominence after the Mexican Revolution, when intellectuals and politicians began to reinvent a national identity that would unify a population that had suffered ten years of violent civil war. Rejecting the European aesthetic ideals that had been dominant before the Revolution, they began to recognize the value of Mexican arts and crafts, sponsoring various exhibitions of arts and crafts from all over Mexico as part of a new Mexican aesthetic.
Alebrijes came to prominence after the Mexican Revolution, when intellectuals and politicians began to reinvent a national identity that would unify a population that had suffered ten years of violent civil war. Rejecting the European aesthetic ideals that had been dominant before the Revolution, they began to recognize the value of Mexican arts and crafts, sponsoring various exhibitions of arts and crafts from all over Mexico as part of a new Mexican aesthetic.
20 DE NOVIEMBRE MARKET
The 20 de Noviembre market is a local market full of history and tradition. Formerly the Convent of San Juan de Dios, there are now a wide variety of food stalls where visitors can sample many Oaxacan specialties and buy fresh, local produce. Perhaps the most famous section is known as "El Pasillo de las Carnes Asadas" (the grilled meats aisle), where smoke and the smell of grilling meat are thick in the air. There, you can select the raw meat that looks best to you and have it grilled to your specifications as you watch, then find a spot at one of the long tables with benches and order tortillas, salsa, and guacamole to accompany your feast.
MITLA CAVES
Located on the northern slopes of the Tlacolula valley in central Oaxaca, this site consists of two pre-Hispanic archaeological complexes and a series of prehistoric caves and rock shelters. Some of these shelters provide archaeological and rock-art evidence for the progress of nomadic hunter-gatherers through the beginnings of agriculture. The Prehistoric Caves of Yagul and Mitla demonstrate the link between man and nature that gave rise to the domestication of plants in North America and allowed Mesoamerican civilizations to flourish. The caves have been designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.
THE TULE TREE
Located inside a gated churchyard in the picturesque town of Santa Maria del Tule, the Árbol del Tule is the widest tree in the world. The local Zapotecs like to joke that the Tule shares some of their characteristics: it is short (only 35.4 meters in height), stout (11.62 meters in diameter), and old (about 1,500 years). Indeed the Montezuma Cypress (Taxodium mucronatum) is roughly as old as nearby Mitla, the Zapotec religious site whose ruins draw visitors east from Oaxaca.
Once thought to be so large that it could only have resulted from a merger between multiple trees, modern DNA analysis has confirmed that the Tule is, in fact, a single tree.Though it is the Tule’s spectacular girth that earns it a place in the record books, it is its gnarled bark that truly inspires the imagination. In its knots and crooks, visitors have found likenesses of human faces, lions, jaguars, elephants, and a veritable bestiary of other creatures. The Tule Tree is still growing today.
Once thought to be so large that it could only have resulted from a merger between multiple trees, modern DNA analysis has confirmed that the Tule is, in fact, a single tree.Though it is the Tule’s spectacular girth that earns it a place in the record books, it is its gnarled bark that truly inspires the imagination. In its knots and crooks, visitors have found likenesses of human faces, lions, jaguars, elephants, and a veritable bestiary of other creatures. The Tule Tree is still growing today.
BARRO NEGRO
One of the most enduring ancestral craft forms in Oaxaca, Mexico is Barro Negro (or “black clay”) pottery. A tradition of the Zapotec and Mixtec peoples of Mexico’s central valley, Barro Negro is distinguished by its unique color, sheen, and design elements as well as its functional purpose in daily life. Whether in the form of pottery or sculpture, Barro Negro continues to represent the artistic traditions of Oaxaca and is valued internationally as an example of ancient ancestral technique that continues to be relevant and prized today.
San Bartolo Coyotepec is a Zapotec community with a pottery tradition that goes back more than 2000 years. The area’s soils made grayish mate clay that was used by potters to make jars and dishes. In the early 1950's, potter Rosa Real discovered that by polishing the clay pieces before they were completely dry and lowering the firing temperature the clay’s color could be changed to a shiny black. This discovery turned barro negro from Oaxaca into an international hit and soon tourists from around the world began traveling to visit Doña Rosa's workshop.
San Bartolo Coyotepec is a Zapotec community with a pottery tradition that goes back more than 2000 years. The area’s soils made grayish mate clay that was used by potters to make jars and dishes. In the early 1950's, potter Rosa Real discovered that by polishing the clay pieces before they were completely dry and lowering the firing temperature the clay’s color could be changed to a shiny black. This discovery turned barro negro from Oaxaca into an international hit and soon tourists from around the world began traveling to visit Doña Rosa's workshop.
QUINTA REAL
Quinta Real Oaxaca is a romantic luxury hotel surrounded by enchanting flower gardens, brilliant courtyards, and serene fountains. Built in 1576, the hotel was originally the Convent of Santa Catalina de Siena up until the mid-1700s. Much of the structure has been carefully restored to its original appearance, including its famous frescoes and historic tile floors. This beautiful hotel resides within the historic city center of Oaxaca de Juárez, which UNESCO designated a World Heritage Site in 1987.
