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Oaxaca, Oaxaca - ''Oaxaca is the name of both a state in Mexico and that state's capital city. This article is about the city. For the state, see: state of Oaxaca.''
The city of Oaxaca, Oaxaca (formally: Oaxaca de Jurez, in honour of 19th-century president and national hero Benito Jurez, who was born nearby) is the capital and main city of the Mexican state of the same name. It is located in the Oaxaca Valley in the Sierra Madre del Sur Mountains, at 17.07, N 96.72 W. The important Monte Albn archaeological site is close to the city. In 2003 the estimated population was 259,600 people. History There have been Zapotec and Mixtec settlements in the general area of the modern city of Oaxaca for thousands of years, in connection with the important ancient centres of Monte Albn and Mitla. The colonial city, however, dates from 1532, when Spanish settlers who had followed Hernn Corts' conquistadores successfully petitioned the Queen of Spain for a grant of land. They had already founded a city in the neighbourhood, under the name of Antequera, on the basis of a charter from King Carlos V of Spain, but Corts had successfully sought to have the entire Valle de Oaxaca declared as part of his personal marquisate, and to have the settlers removed. The queen's charter however secured the townspeople's rights, and the modern city grew up within and around the one-league square that they were granted. The historic centre of the city is laid out in typical Spanish colonial style, with a rectangular grid of streets surrounding a central square, the zcalo. Most of the important buildings are within this central area. Tourism Oaxaca is far more than a tourist destination, and tourism does not dominate the city's life. Nonetheless, it does have a significant tourist trade, based on its numerous baroque churches and religious buildings (many of which have recently been restored), its proximity to Monte Albn, the ready availability of attractive local craft products in its markets and in local villages, and on a reputation for a relaxed style of life and friendly and courteous local population. It has a very wide range of cafs and restaurants, many of them specialising in the distinctive regional cuisine and some of them claimed to be among the best in Mexico. Important buildings Earthquakes damaged or destroyed many of the earliest buildings in the city, so most of those that currently exist date from no earlier than the beginning of the 18th century. - Churches and religious buildings
- Cathedral, replacing an earlier building and completed in 1733, which contains the Santa Cruz de Huatalco dating from 1612
- Church and former convent of Santo Domingo de Guzmn
- Church of San Augustin, completed in 1722.
- Church and former monastery of St John of God (Templo y Exconvento de San Juan de Dios), Oaxaca's oldest church still standing, completed in 1703.
- Church of San Felipe Neri
- Former convent (Ex convento) of San Catalina (now the Hotel Camino Real, but open for viewing)
- Baslica de Nuestra Seora de la Soledad, which contains a statue of the Virgin of Solitude, crowned with a 2 kg solid gold crown studded with diamonds – though this was the subject of a theft recently.
- Government buildings
- Governor's palace (Palacio de Gobierno), dating from 1884 though on the site of several earlier buildings serving the same purpose.
- Museums and the arts
- Centro Cultural de Santo Domingo, occupying the former monastery buildings attached to Santo Domingo church, and beautifully restored in the 1990s to serve as a museum of Oaxacan life from pre-Columban days to the present. Some important artefacts from Monte Albn are displayed here.
- Museum of Contemporary Art (Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Oaxaca, MACO), housed in the so-called Casa de Corts. This is a beautiful colonial building, though as it dates from after the death of Hernn Corts, it can never actually have served as his house.
- Rufino Tamayo museum (Museo Arte Prehipnico de Rufino Tamayo), with an important collection of pre-Columban art, arranged in an unusual aesthetic and thematic manner
- Museo de la Soledad, next to the Church of the Soledad.
- Instituto de Artes Grficos de Oaxaca
- Casa de Jurez, a museum devoted to the life of Benito Jurez
- Photography Museum, the Centro de Fotografa lvarez Bravo
- Stamp Museum, the Museo Philatlica de Oaxaca
- Railway Museum of Southern Mexico, in the former mainline railway station
- Teatro Macedonio Alcal, which as well as being a working theatre houses a collection of romantic art.
- Planetarium, on the Cerro del Fortn
- Commercial buildings
- Jurez market
- 20 de Noviembre market
- Crafts market (Mercado des Artesanas)
- Mercado de Abastos
- Los Arquitos (former aqueduct)
- Parks and gardens
- The Zcalo
- Alameda de Lon, diagonally adjacent to the zcalo and in front of the cathedral
- Ethnobotanical garden, surrounding the former monastery of Santo Domingo
- Parque Benito Jurez
- Cerro de Fortn, overlooking the highway that enters the city from Mexico City, and bearing in stone letters Benito Jurez's slogan, "El respetp al derecho ajeno es la paz" (Respect for others' rights is peace)
- Parque Comunal de San Felipe, bordering the city and accessed via the suburb of San Felipe del Agua, and including the 3250-metre Cerro La Pea
Famous Oaxacans Important people associated with Oaxaca include Education Oaxaca is the site of the Universidad Autnoma Benito Jurez de Oaxaca, which has buildings throughout the city centre. The Universidad de Mesoamrica also has a base in the city. Transport Oaxaca-Xoxocotlan airport (IATA code OAX) is approximately 10 km south of the city centre. Most flights are to Mexico City for onward connection, but there are also flights to Huatulco, Cancn, and Tijuana The city has separate first class and second class bus stations, offering services to most places within the state of Oaxaca, including the coastal resorts of Huatulco, Puerto Escondido, Puerto ngel and Pinotepa Nacional, and also long-distance services to Puebla and Mexico City and other Mexican locations such as Veracruz. The major highways serving Oaxaca are Federal Highways 175 and 131, southwards to the Oaxacan coastal resorts; National Highways 190 and 125, southwest to Pinotepa Nacional, Guerrero; National Highways 190 and 130, to Mexico City; the autopista 150D/131D, offering a more rapid route to Mexico City; and National Highway 175 north to Veracruz, Veracruz.
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