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Best Local History & Culture in Oaxaca

By: Cityseeker
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Cultural Center of Oaxaca

The Oaxaca Cultural Center museum (Museo de las Culturas de Oaxaca) is adjacent to the Templo de Santo Domingo, in the former convent section of the building. Visitors enter into a spacious courtyard, from which you will be led to the Biblioteca (Library) de Francisco Burgoa, featuring an impressive collection of centuries old works. Upstairs, rooms feature treasures excavated from various archaeological sites of the region, including impressive rooms full of artifacts recovered from Monte Albán. This museum is one of the most comprehensive histories of Oaxaca you will find in the entire state. The museum also features an ethnobotanical garden, which visitors can only visit on a guided tour.

Macedonio Alcalá, At Adolfo Gurrión, Iglesia de Santo Domingo, Oaxaca City, Mexico, 68000
Rufino Tamayo Museum of Pre-Hispanic Art

Despite its name, the Museo Rufino Tamayo does not house works by this most famous Zapotec artists, but instead does house his personal collection of Pre-Hispanic art and artifacts. Unique from other archaeology museums, the Museo Rufino Tamayo organizes the works by their aesthetic qualities instead of its chronology in order to appreciate the artisanship. Tamayo himself designed the museum, and it is definitely worth a visit. Guided tours of the museum are offered on Wednesdays.

503 Morelos, Oaxaca City, Mexico, 68000
Museo Casa de Juárez

The Casa de Juárez is a restored home that belonged to bookmaker Father Antonio Salanueva, Benito Juárez's childhood benefactor. It was here that Juárez lived during his youth in Oaxaca City, and where Salanueva helped Juárez get an education and become a lawyer. Aside from being the former home of one of Mexico's most beloved presidents, the Casa de Juárez is a good example of what life may have been like for the middle classes and their employees in Oaxaca at this time.

609 García Vigil, Oaxaca City, Mexico, 68000
Monte Albán

Wedged between stark elemental features – blue skies and an ochre, parched terra – Monte Albán sits on a flattened promontory, exemplifying nearly 1500 years of pre-Columbian civilization. Monte Albán rises 400 meters (1300 feet) above the valley floor of Oaxaca, and a wave of history, dominated by the cultures of Olmecs, Zapotecs and Mixtecs sweeps through its pyramidal structures. Shrines, palaces, terraced platforms, tombs and mounds are scattered across this significant archaeological site, each pointing to Monte Albán's central role in Mesoamerican civilization. At the core of this complex is the Main Plaza, a monumental structure that is dominated by a series of stairs that amble up its southern platform, while small temples, residences and ballcourts are strewn across its surroundings. Several stone structures indicate that morbid sacrificial activities and ceremonies were conducted here. One of the earliest examples of these structures are the Danzantes, a set of figures that harken to the Olmec culture. A few important stone etchings and carvings found on the site have been encased within an on-site museum.

Carretera Oaxaca-Monte Albán, 8 kilometers west of Oaxaca City, Oaxaca, Mexico
Museo Estatal de Arte Popular de Oaxaca

This beautiful and surprisingly modern museum is located in the village of San Bartolo Coyotepec, just 15 kilometers south of Oaxaca City. Not surprisingly, a large portion of the museum is focused on the village's main craft and claim to fame, the barro negro, or black pottery. This is no one note museum, however; the museum also features other traditional crafts from around Oaxaca City and the Valles Centrales. In addition to traditional arts & crafts, the museum also features an impressive collection of more contemporary crafts and artwork from Oaxacan artists.

Calle Independencia s/n, San Bartolo Coyotepec, Mexico, 71256
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