Town San Juan Chilateca, Oaxaca Central Valleys of Oaxaca
Central Valleys town at 1,500 m where women hand-embroider dresses and three wind bands play.
From Oaxaca: 35 min by car (29 km by road) How to get there ↓
Near here
Plan your visit to San Juan Chilateca
Where to stay near San Juan Chilateca
Compare hotels, posadas and guest houses in San Juan Chilateca.
Tours to San Juan Chilateca
Day trips around Mitla sometimes stop in San Juan Chilateca; a tour is the easy way to see it without a car.
How to get to San Juan Chilateca
- From Oaxaca: about 35 min by road (~29 km)
- Nearest airport: Oaxaca (OAX), 47 min by car to Mitla
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About San Juan Chilateca
Chilateca is a tiny Central Valleys municipality: two localities, 1,442 residents in 2010 and 1,522 in the seat in 2020, between 1,400 and 1,700 metres, with a semi-dry semi-warm climate of 20 to 22 degrees and 600 to 700 mm of rain a year. It borders Ocotlán de Morelos and Santo Tomás Jalieza, in the Ocotlán district. Its patron saint is Saint John the Baptist, with the main fiesta on June 24.
The most visible trade is embroidery. According to INEGI's municipal profile, women make dresses embroidered by hand with candle thread or silk, and also knitted garments in wool. One local artisan, Faustina Sumano García, works mainly on wedding dresses: she cuts the cloth, designs the figures, embroiders and sews. In 2022 she won an honourable mention for textiles in the Grandes Maestros del Patrimonio Artesanal de México contest. Her workshop is on calle Cuauhtémoc, and it is wise to call ahead.
Music is another local trait: INEGI points to the town's three wind bands, made up of adults and young people from the village. Food listed there includes empanadas de amarillo, almost twice the size of a normal one, beef amarillo, mole negro with rice, beef tripe soup, grilled cecina and drinks such as tejate, chocolate-atole and mezcal. Fields, with nearly two thirds of the land farmed, surround a town that has grown from 690 inhabitants in 1900.
How to get to San Juan Chilateca
Drive from Oaxaca: 35 min, 29 km
Chilateca is on federal highway 175, the road from Oaxaca to Ocotlán de Morelos, about 29 km from Oaxaca city according to Rome2rio (roughly 35 to 40 minutes by car; another source says about 40 minutes). On MejoresRutas's route between Ocotlán and Oaxaca, the 175 passes Vicente Guerrero, San Juan Chilateca, Santa María Coyotepec and San Juan Bautista la Raya; Ocotlán is about 33 km from Oaxaca.
Without a car, Heraldo de México (2026) names Oaxaca's Central de Abastos as the main departure point for colectivos to the Central Valleys; look for vans marked "Ocotlán" and ask to be dropped at Chilateca. We found no published timetable or fare. Mitla is about 34 km away in a straight line, in another direction of the valley.
Directions to San Juan Chilateca on Google Maps
Distances are in a straight line; the road is usually longer.
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From the nearest cities to San Juan Chilateca
- Oaxaca · 29 km by road, 35 min
- Huajuapan de León · 199 km by road, 2 h 55 min
- Tuxtepec · about 200 km by road, ~2 h 55 min
Drive times by road from OpenStreetMap, without traffic or stops. Times marked ~ are estimated from the straight-line distance.
Map of San Juan Chilateca
Neighbourhoods and villages of San Juan Chilateca
Part of San Juan Chilateca or just outside it, closest first.
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Santo Tomás Jalieza · Village · 2 km from the centre
Zapotec weaving village on the Ocotlán road, where women sell backstrap-loom belts, bags and table runners at a cooperative market. -
San Antonino Castillo Velasco · Town · 3 km from the centre
Zapotec town next to Ocotlán, famous for silk-embroidered blouses and dresses and for figures made of dried immortelle flowers. -
Ocotlán de Morelos · Town · 4 km from the centre
Valley market town 35 km south of Oaxaca, with a big Friday market, a Dominican church restored by painter Rodolfo Morales and the Aguilar potters. -
San Martín Tilcajete · Town · 4 km from the centre
Zapotec village 23 km south of Oaxaca where families carve and paint alebrijes, the bright copal-wood creatures, in workshops open to visitors.
Day trips and tours from San Juan Chilateca
The closest Pueblos Mágicos and places to visit, with the drive from San Juan Chilateca and tours that leave from it.
Times marked ~ are estimated from the distance. Links open a partner site. We may earn a commission if you book, at no cost to you.
Before you go: getting to and around San Juan Chilateca
- The nearest airport is Oaxaca (OAX).
- The best months to go are January, February, March, and December.
- 2 of the places on this page are more than 3 km from the centre: take a taxi, a ride-hailing app or a local bus.
- For day trips a rental car gives the most freedom; the tours above leave from San Juan Chilateca.
Before you go to San Juan Chilateca: hours, prices and tips
- Best time of day
- June 24, Saint John the Baptist fiesta Wikipedia: Municipio de San Juan Chilateca · checked Oct 2026
Hours and prices change, especially around holidays. Each fact links to where we checked it.
Visiting San Juan Chilateca: what to see and do
Ask about the hand-embroidery workshops in town.
Look at dresses in candle thread or silk and the wool garments.
Come for the Saint John the Baptist fiesta on June 24.
Hear one of the three local wind bands.
Try the empanadas de amarillo and tejate.
Continue to Ocotlán de Morelos, a few kilometres on.
Plan your trip
Places to stay in San Juan Chilateca
Compare hotels, posadas, and rentals in and around San Juan Chilateca.
Tours & activities
Day trips around Mitla sometimes stop in San Juan Chilateca; a tour is the easy way to see it without a car.
Rental cars
Pick up a car at OAX (Oaxaca): about 47 min by road to Mitla, then 34 km more to San Juan Chilateca, on your own schedule.
Flights
The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Oaxaca (OAX), about 47 min by road from Mitla, the base for San Juan Chilateca.
Mobile data
Signal can drop away from Mitla: download a map of the way to San Juan Chilateca before you set out, or carry an eSIM with data.
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When to go to San Juan Chilateca mild
San Juan Chilateca shares the climate of Mitla, 34 km away. The best months to visit are January, February, March, and December.
See the month-by-month climate of Mitla
Weather in San Juan Chilateca now and the next 7 days
Live forecast from Open-Meteo. Chance of rain is the day's highest.
The closest Pueblo Mágico: Mitla
Mitla is the Pueblo Mágico closest to San Juan Chilateca, with places to stay, food, and more to see.
Also close to
- Capulálpam de Méndez · Oaxaca · 57 km away
Near San Juan Chilateca
Drive times by road from OpenStreetMap, without traffic. Times marked ~ are estimated from the straight-line distance.
Location from OpenStreetMap. Written by Puebloteca.