Santa Cruz Mixtepec

When the Cerro de la Cruz fills with people on the Monday of the hill, the calenda of Santa Cruz Mixtepec comes down the cobbled streets: it is the fiesta with which the town joins the Guelaguetza. The church, built by Dominicans as a mission, dates from 1557 and keeps oil paintings and colonial altarpieces under protection, though it has been under reconstruction. At 1,581 metres, among ravines and rolling hills of the Sierra Madre del Sur, the town takes its name from the Holy Cross and from a Nahuatl word usually read as "hill among clouds".

The first inhabitants are thought to have lived on a hill to the northwest, where a cave holds rock paintings, tools and tombs; the highest peak, Cerro de los Ocotes, reaches 2,200 m, with oaks on the upper slopes. For a swim there are two bathing spots, Los Sabinos and El Trapiche. People grow maize, beans and agave for mezcal, raise livestock and poultry, and a good share of income comes from relatives working abroad; medicinal plants are also gathered. On 1 and 2 November the cemetery fills with offerings in a Day of the Dead compared to Míxquic's.

The locality had 1,370 inhabitants in 2020 (1,338 in 2010); the municipality, with 12 localities, 3,615. The climate is pleasant, averaging about 19 °C, and 61% of homes had a mobile phone in 2020. Village streets are paved. No lodging is registered: the nearest is a posada in San Bernardo Mixtepec, about 6 km away, and the area has taquerías and small fondas.