Highlights of the city of Oaxaca
Written: Mar 08 '05 (Updated Mar 09 '05)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: museums, food, chocolate, day-trips, people friendly to aliens struggling in Spanish
Cons: caution about becoming a target for pickpockets in the market is made
The Bottom Line: One of the most pleasant and historically rich cities in Mexico
|
|
|
| Jiahong's Full Review: Oaxaca |
The city of Oaxaca (capital of the Mexican state of Oaxaca) is a pleasant and safe colonial city at an elevation of 5100 feet. It is most famous for its large market. It was, perhaps, more interesting when it was in the open without permanent stalls? Although the two-square-block (Juarez Market, 20th of November Market) covered market has some stalls with local weavings, I did not see anything particularly remarkable about the market to distinguish it from markets elsewhere in Latin America or in Asia. Guidebooks and local guides warn of pickpockets in the market. The aisles are narrow and bumping and grabbing (especially purses) is easy. The recommendation is not to carry anything except the money one might spend into the market and to secure the money.
The modern city is below Monte Alban ("white mountain," named by the Spanish long after it was deserted has trees that have white flower) the mountain-top center of the Zapotec Empire that was at its height a millennium ago. A half-day side-trip (west) to Monte Alban is imperative for anyone interested in the pre-Columbian civilizations of Mexico (as is one east to Mitla, stopping at the 2000+-year-old tule tree). There is a very good museum on the site of Monte Alban, but the real prizes from the excavations, the golden ornaments from tomb #7 are in the Oaxaca Cultural Center and Regional Museum (open 10:00-20:00 daily; admission 38 pesos, persons over 60 free, free on Sundays and holidays). Also on display are the silver, turquoise, coral, jade, amber, jet, pearls, finely carved jaguar and eagle bone, and gold from a 14th-century Mixtec tomb (also from Monte Alban).. The museum includes art, religious and domestic objects from the prehistory and history of the state (which has 16 officially recognized distinct aboriginal languages). On the ground floor is the 23,000-volume library of Francisco Burgoa Library, an extensive and eclectic gift shop and galleries for temporary exhibits. There was a very good African one there on my visit last month.
This museum was the cloister for the Dominican fathers from 1551 until the Reform Laws of 1859 seized the property of the Catholic church and its orders. The massive church attached to the cloisters, Santo Domingo de Oaxaca, (on the corner of Alcala and Cinco de Mayo), is more impressive than the Cathedral that is on the main square (zócalo) was turned into a stable from 1862 to 1898. The original altarpieces were destroyed in 1869. Nevertheless, the church looks and feels very 17th-century, which is to say incredibly busy with every surface, especially the ceiling, highly decorated, with fretwork even on the Baroque twisted columns, 16 gilded niches with figures (and a cross) above the main altar. Much in the side chapels dates only from the early-1970s, but I would never have guessed this if I had not read it. (The church takes a siesta each afternoon, closing from 13:00-16:00.) I have to mention that at the top of the facade are reliefs of Faith, Hope and Charity (and above the door is a relief of Santo Domingo de Guzmán and San Hipólito raising a church above them). The twin towers (35 meters in height) are restrained Moorish-influenced, and dome-topped in contrast to the High (campy) Baroque interior decoration and decoration on top of decoration. The most venerated image in the church is a 1725 Virgin of the Rosary "made to be dressed" and having a seasonally shifting wardrobe. (I am not sure when its procession is.)
The exterior of the Cathedral of the Ascension (rebuilt between 1696 and 1733 after a 1550 earthquake destroyed the earlier edifice) is impressive. The interior is not, except for the side chapel (on the right side as one enters) that contains one of the four pieces of the cross of Huatulco, which the conquistadors found being worshipped by the coastal Zapotecs when they made their way through the mountains to the Pacific coast.
Across the square from the Cathedral is what was until earlier this year the state government building (el Palacio de Gobierno, rebuilt in 1848 after an earthquake severely damaged the earlier building). The government has vacated it (to a site less conducive to demonstrations) and it is unclear who or what will occupy it. Like the National Palace in Mexico City, its stairwells are decorated with historical murals by Arturo Bustos that are worth getting in to see.
The Museo Rufino Tamayo (Avenida Morelos 50s; open 10:00-14:00 and 16:00 to 19:00 everyday except Sunday, when it is open 10:00-15:00, admission 20 pesos) houses the Oaxaca-born painter's collection of pre-Columbian art (from all over the country, not just from Oaxaca; there is also a Museo Rufino Tamayo at the base of Chapultepec Park in Mexico City housing a collection of his paintings and drawings and showing contemporary art.) Tamayo designed the rooms as well as choosing what to display in them,
Another Oaxaca-born artist who sponsored a museum bearing his name is the great photographer Alvarez Bravo,. The Alvarez Bravo Photographic Center is supposed to have one room of his work and temporary exhibits. However, when we were there, all the galleries were closed with two temporary exhibits being mounted. (It also has an extensive library.) It is located at Murguía 302. Normally, it is open 09:30-18:00 daily, closed on Tuesdays.
I particularly enjoyed the Museum of the Painters of Oaxaca at Independencía 607, kitty-cornered from the Cathedral (admission 20 pesos; I didn't see the hours posted). It showcases Oaxaca artists (mostly painters) of the last half century along with exhibits of contemporary art (sometimes from elsewhere). It seemed that many of the paintings were labeled "Sin titulo" (without title) and the Hoosier woman with whom I visited the museum and I made up names for them (the names we suggested had no overlap). There was also a painting that I thought was of fish, she thought was of bats, and turned out to be titled "Sunbathers" (Asoleadros—I should have grasped the root "sol"! and neither bats nor fish do well stretched out in the sun...) by Mariano Pienda Matus. There were several paintings with figures floating the way they do in many Marc Chagall paintings, with Oaxacan rather than Pale costumes and folkloristic contents, and an amusing painting of the kiosk in the zócalo by Rolando Sigûnza Acavedo.
The Museum of the Painters of Oaxaca is in what used to be a convent (completed in 1596, renovated 1975), as is the Regional Museum. So is the Camino Real Hotel. So is the Hotel Ex-Convento San Pablo (built between 1529-1547, renovated 2003), where we stayed. It is almost as elegant as the Camino Real, with much more spacious rooms (all suites), although on a noisier street (Fialla 102). (The Camino Real has a very nice pool.)
There is also a philatelic museum, various Benito Juarez sites, and a museum of the city in a house allegedly built (but never occupied) by Hernán Cortes (who was granted all of Oaxaca by the Spanish crown after conquering the valley of Mexico to the northeast of Oaxaca). And a botanical garden (the first established in the "New World") behind the convent turned Regional Museum. I feel that I saw it all from above (from the museum). Visitors are not allowed to wander through it but must take (free) tours. English language tours are at 11:00 and 16:00 and last one hour.
I'm not sure what the building in which the local (cross-state) folkloric dance for tourists takes place, the Casa de Cantera (Colonail Guelaguetza House, Murguia 102; the program has a website address that doesn't work, perhaps the reservation numbers do: 514-7585, and 514-9522). I thought the dancers were bored through the first half of the program, but eventually warmed up as the dances got livelier (with a lot of jumping around in the finale). The music throughout sounds Bavarian oom-pah-pah rather than Mexican (let alone Indian). I would strongly recommend making reservations to see the show without including the paltry dinner (show-only cover charge is $10; with dinner $20; no drinks included in either charge). Shows are at 20:30 each night and it is not possible to get in late (the outside doors are bolted).
(There are also dance performances at the Camino Real and the Hotel Monte Alban. The former costs $26 with a buffet dinner starting at 7 and the show starting at 8:30; the latter has a $7 cover charge. I did not personally verify these charges, but am confident that the shows all start at 8:30.)
Highly recommended and a long-running institution is the restaurant Casa de mi Abuela (my grandmother's house) on the second floor across from the zócalo (Hidalgo 616). The portions are very large and there are two different kinds of mixed grill to sample multiple dishes. The menu features regional Oaxaca cuisine.
Although Puebla is more famous than Oaxaca for chocolate (for making hot chocolate), the chocolate para mesa (for the table) from Oaxaca is excellent. We saw the raw ingredients and their blending at Chocolate Mayordomo (de las Casas 777). I was astounded by the amount of cinammon that was ground in with the cacao (and sugar and other ingredients for particular kinds. I bought half a kilogram of Choco Oro for 25 pesos (the package is marked 30; it was perhaps a group discount).
If visitors have time and are interested in buying weavings, they should go to the weaving villages of Teotitlán del Valle (the most famous) or Santa Ana del Valle (where Steve stayed once upon a time). If pressed for time, there is a Teotitlán near Santa Domingo, as well as bargaining in the main market.
All the places I have mentioned are in the center of the city and within walking distance of each other. For a map of the center, see http://www.surf-mexico.com/states/Oaxaca/images/Oax_centro.jpg.
The rainy season in Oaxaca is July to October, but it does not rain continually during the rainy season (indeed, the valley is classified as semi-arid).
++++
(Even more than usual thanks to Steve, who was my original guide to Oaxaca many years ago, my patient editor, and my compañero de viaje back to Oaxaca last month along with Joe and Chris, whose Frommer's guide we consulted.)
Recommended:
Yes
Best Time to Travel Here: Sep - Nov
|
|
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.