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Oaxaca's Historic Center
The Historical Center of Oaxaca was declared a Cultural Patrimony of Mankind by UNESCO.
The historic center of Oaxaca extends six to eight blocks in each direction from the Zócalo. Certainly, an entire book could be written about Oaxaca’s historic center (MAP). Here we will mention just some of Oaxaca’s truly numberless attractions branching out from the main square, with the intention of motivating you to seek out more on your own.
Savor the Difference
Inveterate travelers develop their own methods of taking advantage of what a new culture offers, each according to his or her interests. Importantly, you must arrive with curiosity, open to new influences from people, sights, sounds, smells and happenings. In Oaxaca you should be especially ready for happenings as so much life is lived in community and so many aspects are impromptu that you should spend your days in Oaxaca in a state of receptivity. And not a passive one but an active one, open to the stimulation from the world around, looking for and listening to what’s different in the culture you are here to experience, what makes it unique. It’s easy to note what is similar to your life at home. But the real treat is the chance to savor the differences and to be able to incorporate into your own life some of the facets you find most valuable. These are the very things that we at Oaxaca Tours stay aware of when planning our tours and excursions - including our guided cultural walking tour in the Historic Center of Oaxaca.
Strolling
With this aim in mind, we structured our guided walking tour as a walk through the city, going along like a friend with a visitor to point out details of general and special interest. Helping you to know the city and its people in the best possible way— by walking along with the people of Oaxaca. Fortunately, the city lends itself admirably to this approach as it was laid out in 1529 by Alonso García Bravo on the same grid-type plan he had used in Mexico City in 1521. Also the mild climate and the city’s mostly level terrain invite walking for persons of any age or capacity. Probably “strolling” is a better term, for the athletic walk for health is not what we do and is really not the way for anyone to get the most from his or her time in Oaxaca.
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Between the Earthly and the Sacred
To prepare you for a guided walking tour or for a walk on your own we want to talk a little about the Historic District of Oaxaca so that you might get a bit acquainted with some of the splendors it has to offer.
Oaxaca's Cathedral |
García Bravo designed the city around a Zócalo or central square, aligned with the points of the compass and established in accordance with simple symbology. Thus the cathedral was to be built on one side of the square, over the place of the dead for the Aztec inhabitants, and on the other side, the municipal buildings, the seat of civil authority. In this manner, it was thought, the square would radiate, throughout the city, equilibrium between the earthly and the sacred, between the power of the church and the power of the civil authority.
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The latest European contribution to this magical equilibrium of the square is a small romantic bandstand. Starting with this bandstand in the middle of the central garden of the Zócalo, we begin our brief overview of Oaxaca’s historic center. At first the Zócalo was the Plaza de Armas or marching place for the troops, but later the soldiers moved, and the central plaza grew a garden and became known popularly as the Zócalo. Since that time Oaxaca has remained distant from military history. The Spanish designed the city without walls or defenses, trusting in the magic forces of the Zócalo to protect it from all evil. And so it has. Apart from being one of the most beautiful squares in México , it is the center of life in Oaxaca. This has always been the heart of the city, hardly ever without people; even in the pre-dawn hours the sweepers with their enormous bamboo brooms are rhythmically swishing away the accumulation of bits of paper on the pedestrian streets all around the square, to leave everything clean for the new day. And from very early in the morning there are people sitting at café tables talking and enjoying Oaxaca’s thick hot chocolate or rich dark coffee. Almost at any hour there is a human mosaic of coming and going in the Zócalo and central streets of Oaxaca. Remember that the people you pass on the sidewalk may be pure Spanish or mestizo (native and Spanish) or people belonging to Zapotec or Mixtec or other ethnic groups—all are the Mexicans of Oaxaca. And it is a cordial and courteous society: the key to happiness is to expect agreeable experiences. Be free with smiles, appreciative interest and necessary expressions such as gracias (thank you) or muchas gracias (many thanks); con permiso (“excuse me”—when walking in front of another person) or perdón (accent on dón, if toes have been stepped on, etc.) so...Vámonos! (Let’s go!).
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.
We hope that this brief overview of the historic district of Oaxaca has given you impetus to discover more on your own in a city that has so much to offer.
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