Santo Domingo Zanatepec

Zanatepec, in the east of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, lies at about 60 metres above sea level in warm, humid country with roughly 1,220 mm of rain a year, mostly in summer and autumn. It is the seat of a municipality of more than 1,000 km² created on 15 March 1825. The 2010 census counted 7,249 residents in the town. Its name is explained in Nahuatl as "on the hill of the grackles" and in Zapotec, differently, as "the stone of the grackle".

The first settlers were Zoques, who lived at Cerro del Cuscumate, a sacred hill with caves, and worshipped the Sun and Moon; around 1800 Francisco de Gordon described a carved column there with figures of both. The Zapotecs of Tehuantepec took control in 1497, according to Gracida, and many Zoques fled to the Chimalapas or Chiapas; those who stayed were gradually assimilated. The Lienzo de Zanatepec, or Codex of the Grackle, is a colonial document showing the genealogy of local rulers and their territory, used as evidence in land disputes.

The local legend tells of two lovers, Acazanatl and Teocalxochitl; a fairy turned the young man into a golden grackle and the king had a gold figure made in his honour. Raiders from Chiapas stole it, and also three bells of gold, silver and bronze; the first two, too heavy to carry, left behind the lagoons of the Sun and the Moon.

The Dominicans founded a parish here in 1605 and turned the land to cattle; the church of Santo Domingo dates from the 16th century. Today farmers grow maize, sorghum, sesame, mango and tamarind, and raise cattle. The railway from Arriaga to Ciudad Ixtepec passes through town.