San Juan Yatzona

Yatzona is a Zapotec village in the Villa Alta district of Oaxaca's Sierra Norte, at roughly 1,300 metres. The name is Zapotec, and the language is still spoken: in the 2010 census 403 of the municipality's 452 inhabitants spoke an indigenous language. The 2020 census counted 440 people in the seat; the highest recorded figure was 625 in 1900 and the lowest 428 in 2010.

The terrain is steep high sierra, part of the eastern sierras of the Sierra Madre del Sur, ranging from about 400 to 1,800 metres. The climate is humid and mild to warm, with average temperatures of 18 to 24 °C and 1,500 to 1,800 mm of rain a year, so cloud and mist are part of the scenery. The Santo Domingo river waters the municipality, which lies in the Papaloapan basin.

The municipality is tiny, with only two localities, and is governed by usos y costumbres: authorities are chosen every year. It borders Santiago Camotlán, San Ildefonso Villa Alta, Santa María Temaxcalapa and Villa Talea de Castro, the larger neighbour and the easiest reference point.

The main fiesta is 24 June, the day of San Juan Bautista, the village's patron saint. It is the best date to come if you want to see the village with people in it; the rest of the year it is very quiet, with no tourist services that we know of.