Town 12 km west of Mitla
Home of one of Oaxaca's oldest and biggest Sunday markets, and a Baroque chapel covered in gilded plasterwork.
Tlacolula de Matamoros is the market town of the eastern valley, about 15 minutes west of Mitla on Highway 190. Most days it is an ordinary, busy town, but on Sundays it hosts one of the oldest and largest open-air markets in Oaxaca. Families from the surrounding Zapotec villages come in to buy and sell, and the streets around the church fill with stalls of chiles, bread, baskets, pottery, live turkeys, mezcal, textiles and plates of barbacoa. It is a market for local people first, which is what makes it worth the trip.
The town's other treasure stands at the edge of the market: the Dominican church of the Assumption and, inside it, the Capilla del Señor de Tlacolula. Added in the 17th century, the chapel is one of the richest Baroque interiors in the state, its vault and dome covered in gilded plaster flowers, its walls crowded with carved figures of martyred saints, mirrors, paintings and wrought ironwork. It holds a crucifix that people credit with many miracles, and on market day there is a steady line of devotees.
Tlacolula is also the municipal seat for the ruins of Yagul, and after the Spanish conquest it was settled by people moved down from that hilltop city.
What to see and do
Come on a Sunday to walk the market, the biggest in the valley.
Eat barbacoa with fresh tortillas at the market stalls.
Step into the Capilla del Señor de Tlacolula to see its gilded plasterwork and saints.
Buy pottery, baskets and mezcal straight from the villages that make them.
Getting there
Tlacolula is about 15 minutes west of Mitla on Highway 190, the road to Oaxaca City. Buses and colectivos between Oaxaca and Mitla stop in Tlacolula throughout the day. On Sundays traffic and parking near the market are heavy, so arrive early.
12 km west of Mitla
Directions from Mitla on Google Maps
Distances are in a straight line; the road is usually longer.
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Weather mild
Tlacolula shares the climate of Mitla, 12 km away. The best months to visit are Jan, Feb, Mar, Dec.
Make Mitla your base
Tlacolula is an easy trip from Mitla, a Pueblo Mágico with places to stay, food, and more to see.
More around Mitla
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Santiago Matatlán
· Town · 7 km away
A town that calls itself the world capital of mezcal, lined with family palenques where you can see agave being roasted and distilled. -
Yagul
· Archaeological site · 10 km away
A Zapotec hilltop city with a big ball court, a maze-like palace and a fortress lookout over the Tlacolula Valley. -
Hierve el Agua
· Nature reserve · 11 km away
Mineral springs that have built white rock "waterfalls" down a cliff, with pools to swim in and huge views of the sierra. -
Santa Ana del Valle
· Town · 14 km away
A Zapotec weaving village with a pioneering community museum and a church full of colonial saints. -
Lambityeco
· Archaeological site · 15 km away
A small Zapotec site by the highway with two striking stucco masks of Cocijo, the rain god, at a noble's house. -
San Marcos Tlapazola
· Town · 17 km away
A Zapotec village in the hills where women shape red clay pottery by hand, without a wheel, as their families have for generations. -
Teotitlán del Valle
· Town · 20 km away
The Zapotec weaving village of the valley: family workshops making wool rugs on foot looms with natural dyes. -
Dainzú
· Archaeological site · 22 km away
An early Zapotec site at the foot of a hill, famous for dozens of carved stones showing masked ball players. -
Tlacochahuaya
· Landmark · 25 km away
A Dominican church whose walls and vaults are painted with flowers and angels, with a restored 18th-century pipe organ. -
Árbol del Tule
· Landmark · 32 km away
A Montezuma cypress in Santa María del Tule with one of the widest trunks in the world, on the road between Oaxaca and Mitla.
Location from OpenStreetMap. Written by Puebloteca.