Columns In The Ruins Of Mitla
Mitla is a town about 40km from the city of Oaxaca, Mexico and is easily reachable by bus from Oaxaca’s second class bus station. Mitla is notable primarily for the Zapoteca ruins on the town’s outskirts, though tourists may also stop off here in order to catch a collectivo to the excellent Hierve El Agua that nestles in the surrounding mountains.
Unlike the more elaborate decorations found in Maya ruins found in a South and East direction from Oaxaca, the stone carvings in Mitla are harsh and angular geometric shapes - presumably inspired by the surrounding landscape.
The Mitla region is thought to have been first populated about 2,000 years ago, growing into a significant city and Zapoteca centre of power up until the arrival of the Spanish.
It as an artifact of the Spanish conquest that the ruins at Mitla hold most interest.
As a physical spectacle, Mitla doesn’t really pack the same punch as some of region’s other classical ruins. However, Mitla provides bracing instruction about the vandalism of the Spanish conquistadores. Smack bang in the middle of what was once a great Zapoteca metropolis is a large catholic church. The Spanish build this new centre of religious power with stone torn from the religious structures they had just pillaged. Victor’s graffiti - “Our God is greater than your gods.”
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