Today: Monte Albán, Mitla and the 2,000 year old, still v green Tule tree.
Besides being one of the earliest cities of Mesoamerica, Monte Albán’s importance stems also from its role as the pre-eminent Zapotec socio-political and economic center for close to a thousand years. Founded around 500 BCE, in the next 1,000 years Monte Albán had become the capital of a large-scale expansionist polity that dominated much of the Oaxacan highlands and interacted with other Mesoamerican states such as Teotihuacan to the north. The city had lost its political pre-eminence by the end of the Late Classic era and soon thereafter was largely abandoned.
Mitla is the second most important archeological site in the state of Oaxaca. While Monte Albán was most important as a political center, Mitla was the main religious center. It was inhabited perhaps as early as 900 BCE. Mitla is famous for its small, finely cut, polished mosaics and massive stone pieces which have been fitted together without the use of mortar. The high priest’s room is quite impressive. The doorways into his chambers are intentionally low so people would have to bow in order to get in.
Finally, we got to see the giant, 2,000 year old Tule tree – a stunning Montezuma cypress in the town of Santa Maria del Tule.