On the far side of the patio three arches lead to the central stairway, enriched by an excellent mural which can serve as an interesting and artistic visual introduction to the history of Oaxaca and its culture. You can spend a good deal of time admiring and deciphering this exquisite mural.

Since the wide streets that bound the Zócalo are only for pedestrians, this architectural embroidery of arcades or portales all around it, plus the gentle climate of Oaxaca, are likely to effect a character change in even the most hectic and harried visitor running from one place to another, making him or her slow down to a saunter and finally sink into a seat at an arcade table for a refreshing drink, look across at the green and gracious central garden and take time to realize how wonderful it is to be alive and in Oaxaca.

Or you can wander into the garden itself to take a seat on a comfortable bench to enjoy the bougainvillea, jacarandas and junipers, the fountains and the huge Indian laurel trees. You’re sure to be surrounded always by a kaleidoscope of human activity from daylight when the workers hurry to their jobs until evening falls and the benches are full of oaxaqueños and visitors from everywhere enjoying the warm, tranquil evening. It’s then that the little lamps light the whole garden. Children chase each other on the broad walks among the strolling couples and folks are out to see what the occasional vendors are offering and to get a little exercise. The vendors are offering curative herbs, lottery tickets, gardenias, shoe shines, chapulines (fried grasshoppers), chiclets, and wrist bracelets.

Regional Dances and Flowering Trees
There are good concerts almost every night of the week, factors such as weather permitting. Then the kiosk or band shell with its iron lace decoration becomes the center of attention. It, along with the big laurel trees, were added to the garden some hundred years ago and certainly contribute to the personality of the place. About 7:30 p.m., every other evening, the State Band of Oaxaca takes its place in the kiosk, and on alternate nights the Marimba Band sets up its instruments around the bandstand on the stone terrace with the decorative iron railing. For some two hours they regale an appreciative audience with classical music of the world and especially with romantic Mexican melodies. This is one of the loveliest contributions of municipal Oaxaca to the enjoyment of its people and its visitors.

Of all the good days (and they are all good in Oaxaca), Sunday is the best. School children perform regional dances in wonderful costumes next to the Cathedral, the vendors have out their best wares in the Alameda, families go by all spruced up for lunch at grandma's, the children as pretty as a bouquet of pansies; and the band gives two concerts. The city orchestra has been playing for over a hundred years, founded by French and Austrian musicians who came with Emperor Maximilian. (Legend tells that a flute player named Rousseau was inspired by Oaxaca’s flora to paint his famous jungle scenes when he went back to Paris.) Just before sundown, an impressive band of military accompanied by brass and drums lowers the flag in front of the Cathedral, and marches it around the Zócalo into the Government Palace: a stirring patriotic spectacle.

Now complete with cute babies, fountains and flowering trees, it was refurbished in 1973 by Mexico’s globe-traveling restoration architect, Jaime Ortíz Lajous, who calls the popular Café del del Jardin “the greatest outdoor cafe in the world”. On the southwest corner, below the balconies of the Asador Vasco restaurant.

Erected Before the Middle 1500s
If you walk along the west side of the Zócalo, through the Portal de las Flores, past cafes and shops, until you reach the street of Hidalgo on the north side of the square, you will see a garden smaller than that of the Zócalo but equally welcoming, with tall trees, fountains and of course, benches. This is the Alameda de León which has at its northwest corner, that place dear to the hearts of travelers, the Correo or Post Office.

On the esplande of this smaller garden you will see the front of the solid and stately cathedral, with an impressive facade rich in sculptures and bas-reliefs. The many surfaces finely worked with baroque tracery— on the divided columns, pedestals of saints and background areas as around the entrance—add to the luxurious effect of the overall decoration. Like the majority of Spanish cathedrals it is dedicated to the Holy Virgin. She appears as the Virgin of the Assumption, the central figure in fine bas-relief over the front entrance door. Short sturdy towers and buttresses follow the pattern of Oaxaca churches, as does the completion of the present structure in 1733, the original one probably having been erected before the middle 1500s when Oaxaca had its first bishop.

The Oficina de Turismo (State Tourist Office) is located across the street from the cathedral at the northwest coroner of Independencia and Garc’a Vigil. The office is in a building with a checkered career, like all the buildings near the Cathedral and originally connected with it. Beginning in the late 1600s it was a Colegio de Niñas (School for Girls), a home and school for poor girls until they could stand on their own feet in the world. The idea for this humane institution was the legacy of a priest serving in the Mixtec region who died in 1630 leaving a sum of money for the purpose, but not until so many years later was there enough (with the help of Don Fernández Fiallo, a true benefactor in many works of 17-century Oaxaca) for the construction to be completed. It functioned as a girl’s school for nearly 200 years, then for a time it housed the Regional Museum, now in the ex-Convento de Santo Domingo, before becoming the City Hall.

Still on Independencia, on the corner of Tinoco y Palacios, you find the Church of San Felipe Neri (built 1733-1773) with one of the most handsome and best preserved interiors in the city. The Congregación del Oratorio de San Felipe Neri (Brotherhood of Prayer of San Felipe Neri) was a secular brotherhood whose members had completed religious studies but were not necessarily priests. They were devoted to prayer and serving their fellow men, and founded schools and orphanages.

Further west along Independencia, just beyond Crespo street, begins the enormous complex, upstairs to the right, of the most important church for many Oaxaqueños— La Basilica de Nuestra Señora Soledad (The Basilica of Our Lady of Solitude), known simply as Soledad. She is the beloved patroness of the entire state of Oaxaca, and also a special devotion of fishermen who have given her gifts of pearls from their catch to grace her regal collection of robes embroidered in gold thread and set with precious stones and pearls.

The temple has a grand baroque facade like a giant altar piece; it is dedicated to this Patron Saint of Oaxaca.The property runs from Independencia up to the next street of Morelos in terraced levels for the church itself and its large atrium. The park has trees, a fountain, tables, and rainbows of stretched awnings. It operates as one big restaurant where everyone seems to be among old friends, both customers and the owners of the stands doling out ice cream, cakes and candies. A few vendors sell fantasy jewelry and other small items; at festival time the plaza is more than busy. All year long it is good fun, a place where Oaxaque–os come to indulge their legendary sweet tooth. In addition, there is an area on a higher level with the large ex-convent (now City Hall) and an open space called Plaza de la Danza where special events are held, particularly during the great fiesta of July, the Guelaguetza. Outside the entrance to the atrium is a pleasant terraced spot with trees for shade and little tables set for clients of the eateries and refreshment stands that are a permanent feature. There are also booths selling religious images and a couple of stands with costume jewelry of traditional Oaxaca designs sold by the cordial, sizable ladies from Tehuantepec in their long flowered skirts and short embroidered huipiles.

 CENTRO NORTH: Alcala and Domingo
 MAP OF OAXACA HISTORIC CENTER: Hotels, restaurants, and points of interest.

Oaxaca is the center of a state brimming with attractions concentrated in its capital, around the Zócalo, its magical main square. A square that was designed to let life be lived and to be open to the world, with no more effort than by the choice of a good seat at a fair and balanced distance from the Palace of the Government and the Cathedral.