Mitla

Mitla is an archaeological area, 40 km far from Oaxaka. The site is the best preserved in this area because of the dry climate.

The origins of the ruins of this site are Zapotec and Mixtec. They cover the period from 200 a.C. to the arrival of the Spanish. The city was called Mitlan by the Aztecs. This name meant the place of the deads, later the Spanish changed its name into Mitla. The available to a sightseeing buildings were resting places and homes of priests, otherwise cemetery areas. This is the reason why the Aztecs used that name. The buildings are almost all square, surrounded by courtyards and having with very low roofs.

Not far from Mitla, about 10km, many people use to go to St. Maria del Tule in order to visit a unique example of Taxodium Mexicano, a giant cypress with a diameter of 14 meters. It is 40 meters high and its age is estimated at 2000 years.