Oaxaca City near Market
Capital of the state of Oaxaca, the city of Oaxaca is located 540 kilometers from Mexico City.
At an altitude of 5,000 feet, Oaxaca’s climate is semi-tropical with cool evenings and warm days. The town’s historical center offers rich colonial architecture and a wealth of interesting sight-seeing possibilities.
Around the treed Zócalo, or town square, are numerous outdoor cafés proferring mole, meats in spicy green, yellow or red sauces and empanadas de huitlacoche, quesillo y flor de calabaza (corn pastries stuffed with corn fungus, string cheese and squash blossoms).
Diminutive, wizened little old ladies will try their best to convince you that their toasted Chapulines (grasshoppers) are the very best – and you’ll find, if you actually try them, that they are!
Oaxaca City and its surrounding areas place the visitor in the midst of a kaleidescope of color. Wandering through the crafts market or small shops downtown, you are swept by incredibly intricate and delicately-patterned textiles, vibrantly hand-painted carvings and a wide variety of pottery.
Oaxaca City hotels and accommodations
Festivals
La Guelaguetza
An annual, two-week festival in the latter part July
La Guelaguetza is a state-wide cultural fest that celebrates the diversity of Oaxacan culture, growing out of the great variety of traditional regional festivals from all regions of the state. Delegations from each of the administrative areas of Oaxaca gather in Oaxaca City to perform at Cerro del Fortin, with showings of music and dance, theatrical performances and parades that form a showcase of traditional costumes and culture, native instruments, crafts and regional culinary specialties. La Guelaguetza has grown to be Oaxaca’s most well-attended and popular touristic event.
La Noche de Rábanos – Night of Radishes
A traditional festival held annually on the evening of December 23rd
On the Night of Radishes, horticulturalists, local radish growers and pure aficcionados exhibit a panoply of carved, sculptured and assembled radishes, some of enormous size and great complexity, all fashioned with tremendous imagination and creativity. Many are doll-like figures elaborately outfitted or decorated with flowers; others are carved in the form of animals; some are full scenes including buildings and other props, all made from a base of radish, often of religious motif.
Some of the must-sees within the Oaxaca City:
Oaxaca City courtyard
* Santo Domingo Cultural Center Regional Museum, Alcalá Street, Centro
* The Cathedral, Zócalo
* Basilica of Our Lady of Solitude
* The Temple of Santo Domingo on Calle Alcalá (Alcala Street)
* Museum of Contemporary Art, Alcalá 22, Centro
* Crafts Market, Zaragoza and J.P. García Streets
* Graphic Arts Institute of Oaxaca (IAGO – Instituto de Artes Gráficas de Oaxaca), located at Calle Alcalá 502, Centro
* Rufino Tamayo Museum of Prehispanic Art at Calle Morelos 503, Centro
* Casa Juárez Museum, García Vigil 609, Centro
* Government Palace, Zócalo (town square)
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