In a Full-day Tour, for about 8-10 hours, we will visit the towns of Santo Domingo Yanhuitlán, San Pedro and San Pablo Tepescolula, and Coixtlahuaca
SANTO DOMINGO YANHUITLÁN is a village and municipality in the state of Oaxaca, located approximately 59 miles northeast of Oaxaca City. It is part of the Nochixtlán District in the southeast of the Mixteca Region. Its name comes from the patron saint of the town, Saint Dominic, and the last part comes from the Nahuatl language; Yancui means “new thing” and Tlan means “in the vicinity of”.
The town was founded by Dominican friars 10 years after the arrival of the Spaniards in Oaxaca. In colonial times, Yanhuitlán was an important commercial center of the Mixtec people, exporting silk to Mexico City, Puebla and Oaxaca City.
The municipality is dominated by the temple and the former convent of Saint Dominic, built-in 1541 on pre-Hispanic foundations.
SAN PEDRO & SAN PABLO TEPOSCOLULA is a town and municipality in the State of Oaxaca, approximately 75 miles northwest of Oaxaca City on the Federal Highway 125. It is part of the Teposcolula District in the center of the Mixteca Region.
In the sixteenth century, Teposcolula was the most important center of Spanish commerce in the Mixteca area. The richest traders in the region lived here in magnificent houses, which are in ruins today or have disappeared. They were the leaders of the “encomienda” labor system. Teposcolula remained in power of the Crown and was the first “corregimiento” of the Mixteca Alta. The town was the political and economic center of the region with great product benefits like cochineal, silk, gold powder, silver, chilies, wood, quetzal feathers, and beans.
SAN JUAN BAUTISTA COIXTLAHUACA is a small town and municipality located in the Mixteca region in the northeastern part of the State of Oaxaca, approximately 73 miles from Oaxaca City on Highway 135D. The name, “Coixtlahuaca” means ‘plain of snakes’ in the Nahuatl language.
The town was founded by the Chocholtecs in 37 AD. Their last emperor was Atonaltzin, who fought against the Mexicas. He was defeated two times. The second and last time by Moctezuma II, who conquered a big part of the region.
The town’s main attraction is the Church of Saint John the Baptist (Iglesia de San Juan Bautista). Completed in 1576, it is built in the Renaissance style with rose windows, sculptures, and the main entrance with dozens of recesses. It also has a beautiful Baroque-style altarpiece.
ITINERARY:
We will meet at Casa de las Bugambilias B&B or at the front desk of your hotel, from where we will drive 59 miles northeast on the Highway Cuacnopalan-Oaxaca 135D to Santo Domingo Yanhuitlán.
We will drive approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes to arrive in Santo Domingo Yanhuitlán, where we will visit the museum and the temple. The museum preserves beautiful pieces of religious worship; Christs made of varied materials, angels, saints, a copy of the Yanhuitlán Codex, land grants, as well as architectural elements recovered from various phases of the intervention of the enclosure.
The temple and former convent of Yanhuitlán is a sixteenth-century colonial construction with typical characteristics of the Dominican Order in Gothic and Plateresque style. It was built on a pre-Hispanic platform. It has two floors: the first has a gatehouse, cloister, chapter hall, dungeon, refectory, and ante-refectory. From the outside, you can see the orchard and the inn. On the top floor, you can appreciate the cells, terraces, latrines, library, and have access to the church choir.
The temple has a notable facade, baptismal font, choir, roof, many fine colonial-era statues of saints, various altarpieces on the sides of the church, as well as the main altarpiece constructed like a folding screen.
After our visit to the museum and temple, we will drive 30 minutes southwest on Highway 125 to arrive in San Pedro and San Pablo Teposcolula. Here we will visit the town’s temple and cloister, which are a real Dominican treasure and one of the most relevant works of the sixteenth century New Spain. It is the largest open chapel in Latin America; 15 meters high, 43 meters long and 11 meters deep.
Inside the temple, you can admire various elements of great historical value, such as the monumental wind or bellows organ, the main altarpiece designed in Churrigueresque Baroque style, a confessionary carved out of a single piece of wood, as well as an old chest of drawers in the sacristy. The cloister is composed of the pilgrim’s portal and the Santa Gertrudis chapel, which shows a series of vaults in a unique style. Around 2 p.m. we will have lunch in a traditional restaurant in San Pedro & San Pablo Teposcolula.
After lunch, we will drive 1 hour and 15 minutes to San Juan Bautista Coixtlahuaca to visit the temple and the ex-convent. Coixtlahuaca was one of the major political centers of the Mixteca region in the post-classic period. Now it is famous for its Dominican architecture: one of the most peculiar examples of sacred art and sixteenth-century architecture of New Spain. The town also stands out for its natural sites, for example, the sanctuary of marine fossils and its pre-Hispanic vestiges.
TOUR PRICES:
(IN MEXICAN PESOS)
1-2 persons: MX $3,450.00 per person.
3-5 persons: MX $2,300.00 per person.
6-9 persons: MX $1,725.00 per person.
Children (Ages 6-12) MX $805.00
MEETING POINT:
All the customers lodged in downtown Oaxaca will be picked up at the front desk of their hotel or at any other place in downtown Oaxaca.
We will establish a meeting point by telephone or email for travelers residing outside the city.
All tours normally end at the starting point, but this can be changed to another place in downtown Oaxaca if the customer prefers.
DURATION:
8-10 hours. Weather and traffic conditions might affect the length of the tour.
TRANSPORTATION:
VW Transporter Mod. 2019 with A/C, liability insurance, purified water, and driver.
INCLUDED:
The service includes transportation, an English-speaking tour guide, and soft drinks.
ADDITIONAL COSTS:
Admission fees, lunch, and additional beverages.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
We recommend you bring walking shoes, sunblock, a hat, sunglasses, and a camera.
Check the photos of this tour:
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