Mitla

Reserve a full day to visit Mitla (A.D. 900–1521), since there are places to see along the way. Mitla is located 46 kilometers east of Oaxaca on highway 190, and your first (quick) stop en route is in Santa María del Tule, 9 kilometers outside Oaxaca. Here you find the famous El Tule Tree standing next to the church, just off the road—and what a tree it is! Over 2,000 years old, the cypress has a massive trunk and a sweeping canopy of leaves. Many of the redwoods in California are impressive, but El Tule supposedly has the widest girth of any tree in the world.
After a brief stop, continue directly on to Mitla. At the ruins there are rows of stalls with vendors ardently selling all kinds of crafts and souvenirs. There is also a church here that is built from stones taken from the site. These ruins are totally different from those at Monte Albán. Whereas Monte Albán has a glorious setting, in splendid isolation on the top of a hill—Mitla sits in the valley, embraced by the town. The site was built by the Mixtecs who succeeded the Zapotecs as the major power in the Oaxaca region. Mitla was still a flourishing religious and civil center when the Spanish arrived. There are two main parts of the site to visit. The first is the Church Group, so named because the Spaniards built their church in the middle of the courtyard. This was a clever maneuver since they also pinched the stones from the temples to build the church you see today. Don’t spend much time here since the Columns Group is far more interesting. Here you find examples of the special feature of Mitla: its intricate geometric designs. There are 14 geometrical patterns in all, with each building embellished with its own artwork. To create these patterns, small pieces of stone were cut and set into the wall. The zigzag pattern in many of the designs is frequently duplicated in their woven designs.