OAXACA CITY-MEXICO May 12
The city of Oaxaca is located about 5 hours south of Mexico city. Oaxaca is one of the most beautiful cities in Mexico because of its colonial style architecture, museums, handcrafts, traditions and its gastronomy. For all of this, the city of Oaxaca is recognized as world heritage by the UNESCO.
This city is mostly visited by many people from all over because of its beautiful colonial style architecture as well as for its interesting museums. some of these museums are: Museo de las Culturas, Museo de Arte Prehispanico “Rufino Tamayo”, Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Oaxaca, Museo “Casa Juarez”, and Museo Religioso de la Soledad. Two other important buildings that people like to visit are the public library and last but not least the Theater “Macedonia Alcala”.
Oaxaca is also famous for its unusual “Arbol del Tule” or Tule Tree. This tree is found in the downtown and it’s 200 years old. This tree is pretty unusual because of its size. It’s 730 m3 in volume, 42 m in diameter, and 40 m. height. To have an idea of it’s size, think about this. It is enough to say that in its shade, there can be sheltered more than 500 hundred people and it takes about 30 people hand to hand, to hold around it at ground level.
Another place that visitor like to visit is the handcrafts market, located also in the downtown area. Most of the things sold there, such as carpets, clothing, table cloths, curtains, towels, handbags and jewelry are made by the indigenous people from nearby towns. Among other things made in the city, Oaxaca is famous for its pottery made of black clay. You can find in most handcrafts shops things like toys, ornaments, dishes, vases, jars and many other things made out of this material. The best thing about shopping in Oaxaca is the prices. Things are really cheap here.
If you are really interested in learning about the Mexican culture, I would really recommend to visit Oaxaca in July. It is in this month that the people of Oaxaca celebrate the Guelaguetza. This celebration is held at cerro del fortin, an amphitheater which offers magnificent views of the city. during this celebration, you are able to see different kinds of colorful dances as well as other shows. It is during this celebration that the city is always crowded because of the popularity of this fiesta. Most visitors are from Mexico’s larger cities and from Europe, though it is becoming more and more popular with North Americans.
And what can we say about Oaxaca’s gastronomy? It is one of the best in Mexico. if you come to Oaxaca, you are guaranteed to eat well. In the city, you can find a great variety of Mexican dishes as well as other international food. I really recommend that you try the typical food called “Tlayudas” which is a huge fried tortilla with beef, Oaxaca cheese, cream, tomatoes, lettuce and avocado.
So if you want to see the real Mexico and learn about its culture, you must come to Oaxaca. I’m pretty sure you won’t regret it and will want to come back again as much as I do.
