Travel log
Oaxaca antiguo
Day 3
SAN BARTOLO COYOTEPEC
San Bartolo Coyotepec is located 6 kilometers south of Oaxaca City, by the road that leads to Puerto Angel. A walk through this small town of houses of adobe and atmosphere of the Mexican province discovers its true identity: the black mud.
The black mud process begins in the hills near the east of the town, in the mud mines where the collectors dig and descend to wells to extract the earth, which is not collected from the surface. During the rainy season the work becomes dangerous due to the soil moisture, which can collapse in the holes where the mud is extracted and the collectors are buried.
After collected, the mud is put in sacks of thirty kilos and taken to the workshops of the town. It is then cleaned and moistened. The artisans knead it to a manageable mass and begin to carve pots and figures. The pieces are placed in oven and are taken care of carefully until they are cooked.
Finally, the artisans rub the pieces strongly with a cloth. This last step is the one that gives the particular brightness to the black color of the crafts.
A curious fact
The villagers believe that if the mud is collected by women, the mine will stop producing the raw material. Some time ago, a woman used to extract mud, as part of her employment, from the surrounding hills. He was quickly asked, by the same Municipal President, to leave this activity to keep the tradition alive.
Beautiful black clay figures
The craftsmen are masters in sculpting virgins, women, pots, crucifixes, candelabra, skulls, dogs, eclipses, bulls, yuntas, and a great variety of figures with surprising brilliance.
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SAN MARTIN TILCAJETE
The Oaxaca region produces some of the finest handicrafts in Mexico and two of the most unique and sought after items are black clay pottery and colorful painted animal carvings known locally as alebrijes.
A favorite Mexican folk art, alebrijes are small animal figurines that are hand-carved from the wood of the copal tree and intricately painted by hand, often with paints made from natural dyes such as pomegranate and huitlacoche (corn fungus), an ingredient you may not be familiar with until you go to Mexico. Translating to "imaginary" or "fantasy", the word alebrije is used to describe the whimsical style of the colorful painted creatures.
One of the best places in Oaxaca where you can experience the art of alebrije making is the village of San Martin Tilcajete. Located 23 km (14 miles) outside of Oaxaca city, it’s one of just three small towns and villages in the region where the residents earn their living almost exclusively from the production of alebrijes.
You’ll have plenty of opportunities to shop for these beautiful handicrafts, while helping to support the local artisans, both in the villages where they’re made and Oaxaca city.
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SANTO TOMAS JALIEZA
On the road leading to Ocotlan lies a laborious and well-organized village of cotton yarn weavers. In Zapoteca language Jalieza means "under the church". Legend has it that before the European invasion the town was located at the top of the hills near the town, where at present it is known that there is an unexplored archaeological zone.
It is assumed that in the postclassic period, which comprises from the collapse of the classic to the beginning of the conquest, Santo Tomas Jalieza was a very important population nucleus, like Zaachila and Ocotlan. Like most of the eight thousand communities that exist in Oaxaca, systems of community organization, which emerged at least two thousand years ago, are still alive and valid, giving them the most important resources to preserve their identity and culture. In this way, we can say that in Santo Tomas Jalieza exists a very well organized cooperative of sale and production of crafts in cotton textiles, made with waist loom. The oldest technique where all textiles were woven.
The work is mainly made by hands of women, but the man in addition to performing the tasks of farming, supports family textile production; children, cousins, daughters-in-law and even grandparents contribute to this ancestral job.
You will be able to appreciate in the handicraft market, which is between the temple and the Municipal Palace, bags, belts, tablecloths, table roads and various products woven with love by laborious daughters hands of an ancient culture that is still alive and present and that in contemplating his art makes us tremble the spirit.
The sense of hierarchy, order, respect and community work is very relevant in the indigenous and peasant communities of "deep Mexico", the concept of "serving the community" is the most important social value in this ancestral way of life. Known to survive wisely in these last five centuries of colonization and devaluation of the culture defeated.
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OCOTLAN DE MORELOS
Located 30 kilometers from Oaxaca City, Ocotlan de Morelos is one of the most important districts of the Central Valleys region.
In the heat of the forge, and in the midst of the rhythmic and incessant blow of the marro, it is the close familiarity with the way in which the Ocotecos artisans turn the rough metal into beautiful and sharp leaves, tempered by fire. Swords, knives, letter opener, daggers and sabers, show inscriptions of popular names or sayings, and their polished handles, made of leather, bone, bronze or horn, show the meticulousness of this art, a centennial legacy of Toledo's steels, Traditionally used for the manufacture of swords and other weapons of war.
Try regional delicacies and buy handicrafts at the Morelos Municipal Market. Every Friday the traditional square day or tianguis is held, which is the occasion to try local “antojitos (dessert)”.
To know the work of the muralist Rodolfo Morales inside the former convent. This museum is located in the former convent of the Dominicans and has a library, a library and a room dedicated to religious art, which features images of Catholic figures from the district.
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