Monte Albán

Ted. Judy and I tend to skip a lot of “must sees” but felt compelled to visit the pre-Columbian temple complex at Monte Albán during our time in Oaxaca. You can look it up in Wikipedia if you would like to learn a lot of facts and figures about this UNESCO World Heritage Site. Suffice it to say, it is way old, way cool and just six miles outside of town.

What first struck me as we rode our taxi up to Monte Albán is that humans pretty much flattened the top of a mountain to create this building site, which was no small task thousands of years ago. 

The occupants then built an entire city using stone blocks, bonded with mortar and covered in plaster of many different colors. It must have been an awe-inspiring site at the time – sort of a Zapotec Vatican!

During our visit, we saw houses, temples, a ball court and an astronomical observatory. It was all built of stones, many of which had carvings on them. No – it is not as vast or as intricate as Ankor Wat in Cambodia but it is some 1,800 years older!

Ball Court (damaged by Sept 7 earthquake)

Astronomical Observatory

Researchers believe that the Oaxaca valley may be the area where agriculture was first established in the Western Hemisphere but all food appears to be plant based. There is no evidence of any animals used for food or domesticated labor. However, I have a theory that human captives may have served both purposes quite nicely.

When you stand on top of one of the temples, you realize that Monte Albán is surrounded by mountains. You feel as though you are at the center of the world and it is pretty heady stuff. To paraphrase Mel Brooks, “It was good to be the Priest!"

We have seen some of the relics found in the tombs on this site and the craftsmanship is pretty amazing. This was an advanced culture and one wonders what led to its demise. One theory is an extended drought but nobody really knows. 

By the way, if you ever visit Mexico and want to see an image of Monte Albán, just look on the back of the 20 peso note. And who is on the front of that note? Benito Juarez, a poor Zapotec boy from Oaxaca who grew up to become President of Mexico in 1858.