Santa María Sola

Santa María Sola is a small municipal seat in the Sierra Sur, at 1,443 m, in the Sola de Vega district. It used to be called Tepanaltepec and belonged to the Zimatlán district until, around 1910-1915, it moved to Sola de Vega. The 2020 census gave it 594 residents; the peak was 963 in 1980 and the low only 389 in 1940. A land dispute with San Juan Sola and Sola de Vega, opened in 1920, has never been settled.

Its services are recent. Electricity arrived in 1970 along with a dirt road for vehicles toward Sola de Vega; the primary school was built in 1975, and the town hall and secondary school in 1985. The climate is highland-temperate: about 19 °C on average, heavy rain (over 1,300 mm), with June the wettest month. Hardly anyone speaks an indigenous language; this is a Spanish-speaking town in a district where mezcal is the main drink and tobalá is also distilled.

The Virgin's fiesta runs from 5 to 23 August, with a novena, the convite on the 13th and a night calenda with a band. On the 15th there is a Mass for the Virgin and a chilena dance; the programme adds horse races, cockfights, a mezcal tasting, fireworks, a Mixtec ball game and a jaripeo rodeo. After that, from 22 August to 2 September, comes the fiesta of the Virgen de los Remedios, and the traditional dance is the jarabe de la rosa.

On the table there is mole negro, mole rojo, mole tamales and pork Zapotec style; these go with tejate, tepache, aguardiente, hot chocolate and, above all, mezcal. The nearby hills are Cumbre de los Magueyes, La Rosa and Cueva Negra, and the Río Grande and Río Santa Rosa Matagallinas run through the municipality.