Putla Villa de Guerrero

Putla lies in Oaxaca's Sierra Sur at about 744 metres, on the line between the Mixteca and the Coast, and is the seat of the municipality and district of the same name. In Nahuatl it was called Poctlan; the Mixtec name cited is Ñuu Ñuma, "place of smoke", now Ñuu Kaa, "place of mist". It received the title Villa de Guerrero by decree. According to the tradition on Wikipedia, the Mixtecs first lived in old Putla near San Juan Lagunas under the lordship of Tututepec, moved to the area of today's cemetery because of illness, and finally settled in the valley where the town stands now. In viceregal times it was a stopover and supply point between the coast and the interior, and José María Morelos is said to have passed and rested here, with a monument to him.

The Carnaval Putleco brings the most visitors. It is held the weekend before Ash Wednesday, with three comparsas: the Viejos or Tiliches, the Copalas and the Mascaritas (Danza del Macho). The "robo" is staged on Tuesday. The plaza has a carnival monument with the letters PUTLA. The patron feast of the Virgen de la Natividad runs 6 to 8 September, with flower offerings, traditional dress, fireworks and a calenda with mojigangas and marmotas.

The centre is small: the municipal park, the church half a block away and tile-roofed houses. Typical food includes tamal de mole, mole amarillo, masita de chivo with barbacoa, tetelas, pan de yema, chile atole and the "sándwich de nieve". Growers raise coffee, papaya, plantain, sugarcane, rice, mango, cacao and tobacco, and rivers nearby include the Copala and the Yucuhiti.

The town had 12,729 people in the 2020 INEGI census. Putla is mostly a place to spend a day or a night, catch the carnival, or break the journey toward the coast.