Mitla is the second largest and most interesting archaeological site around Oaxaca, after Monte Albán. Even if Monte Albán is really the absolute must, Mitla is certainly a place not to miss if you are in Oaxaca.
The main attraction of Mitla is its intricate wall decoration of xicalcoliuhqui (or step fret, reminiscent of a snake-shaped greek-key meander), made of mosaics or carved on stone. There are also some interesting remnants of mural paintings.
Brief history of Mitla
Mitla had been inhabited since the 1st century, but during its first centuries it was not an important settlement. Monte Albán’s decline, which started in the 8th century, caused the rise of Mitla, which flourished until the conquest of Mexico by the army of Hernán Cortés in 1521.
Most buildings we see today date from the 13th c. in an innovative style compared to the Zapotec tradition in Oaxaca Valley. The most representative feature of this new style is the xicalcoliuhqui mosaic decoration. There are still 14 different designs in Mitla.
The architecture in Mitla is the most renowned of the Zapoteca Postclassical period, with a Mixtec influence (at that time Mixtecs had great power and influence in Oaxaca Valley).
In the 17th century, during the colonial period, the catholic temple of St. Paul (San Pablo) was built over one of Mitla’s courtyards (Patio C). Some materials from the palaces and temples of Mitla were resude, as well as part of its structure – indeed massive columns of the original building supported the new church.
This church occupied also two adjacent courtyards, using Patio A as a stable and landfill and a Patio B as the priest’s residence. This area of the archaeological site of Mitla is known as the Church Group (Grupo de la Iglesia).
How to arrive in Mitla
Mitla is 40 km East of Oaxaca de Juárez, the beautiful state capital, taking road 190. The archaeological site is spread around San Pablo Villa de Mitla, named magical village (although it doesn’t really have much to see apart from the ruins – the main square is fine, with the typical Mitla letters).
Road 190 is usually quite busy, it has traffic lights and bumpers, so it takes around 50 minutes from Oaxaca.
Just before arriving in Mitla, after taking the road exit, we found a disinfection area – we had to stop and step outside of the car so they could spray us and the car a sanitiser solution. We didn’t see any such thing during the rest of our trip in Mexico!
Mitla opening hours and ticket prices
Usually, Mitla archaeological site opens every day from 8 am to 5 pm. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic opening hours have been shortened – these days Mitla opens only Wed-Sat 10 am to 4 pm and Sundays 11 am to 3 pm.
Yagul opens from Sunday to Wednesday, so it is very difficult to visit both sites on the same day. Anyway, we advise you to check opening hours and restrictions before visiting any archaeological site in the official website of the Mexican Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH).
Furthermore, during COVID-19 the only 200 visitors are allowed each day. The interior of buildings and tombs cannot be visited. We arrived at 3 pm and even if it looked like they had already reached this number, we could visit the site as there were very few visitors.
Entrance to the archaeological site of Mitla costs MX$75 (€3.20 / US$3.65). Only cash is accepted.
Visiting Mitla archaeological site
Five groups of buildings have been unearthed in three distinct locations in Mitla. The most interesting are those by the main entrance to the site, North of the village. These are the only two groups that have been completely excavated – Church Group (Grupo de la Iglesia) and Columns Group (Grupo de las Columnas).
You will need approximately 1 hour to visit both of these groups.
Around 500 metres West of the two main groups, crossing the stream that flows into river Mitla, stand the Stream Group (Grupo del Arroyo) and the Adobe Group (Grupo de los Adobes).
Around 500 metres South of the Columns Group, just crossing river Mitla, stands the South Group (Grupo del Sur).
Like the vast majority of visitors, we only saw the Church Group and Columns Group. We didn’t have time for more!
Church Group
The ensemble closest to the main entrance to the site is known as the Church Group. Nowadays, it consists of two courtyards (Patio A and Patio B) around the church, which was built over another courtyard.
The lintels in both courtyards are decorated with xicalcoliuhqui motifs. Behind Patio B stands the catholic temple.
From Patio B you can cross to Patio A, just South. Its structure and decoration are similar, but Patio A is smaller than B.
Also, in Patio A you can see the only remnants of codex-style wall painting in Mitla. This style imitated the writing and drawings of paper codices – and actually this painting told a story. The writing on this walls also reveals a Mixtec influence.e
Columns Group
North of the Church Group, on the other side of the Catholic temple, stands the Columns Group, the largest and grandest in Mitla.
It is made of three rectangular courtyards, named D, E y F. All we see here was built in 13th century, on top of previous constructions.
The walls floors were covered in red-painted stucco. During the first restoration of the Columns Group, headed by Leopoldo Batres in 1901-1902, some walls were painted again in this colour.
From Patio D a corridor leads to the Hall of Columns, the most iconic building of Mitla. This was the most exclusive and private palace in the area.
The highlights of the Hall of Columns are its fine mosaic decoration with several xicalcoliuhqui variants and its six massive one-piece stone columns that supported the ceiling of the palace courtyard. These columns are unique in Mitla.
Enjoy the whole ensemble from far and the mosaics from close!
The walls of the palace rooms are also decorated with mosaic xicalcoliuhqui de mosaicos, but we couldn’t enter because of COVID-19 restrictions.
The Hall of Columns stands on top of a monumental staircase that leads down to Patio E. On this courtyard were 3 buildings that were completely dismantled in the 17th century to build the church.
The walls of Patio F are decorated with mosaics of the same style. In this courtyard there are two cross-shaped monumental tombs from the del Postclassical period (13th-16th centuries). When Marshall Saville discovered them in 1900-1902 they had long been sacked.
We couldn’t visit these tombs neither because of COVID-19 restrictions. Usually, visitors can enter the tombs, but only 7 persons at a time.
Its walls are also decorated with xicalcoliuhqui friezes made of mosaics or carved on the rock, similar to those in the main buildings. The walls of Tomb 2 also had mural paintings.
