Oaxaca History

Oaxaca History

Far from forgotten, Oaxaca's history continues to live in the landscape, language, food and culture that surround you in this beautiful, colonial city.

Oaxaca's earliest days begin with the Zapotec civilization, which existed long before the arrival of the Spanish. The civilization, ruled from the capital city of Monte Albán, peaked between 300 and 700 AD and prospered off the fertile land. In the 13th century, another civilization - the Mixtecs - moved into the area and took over Zapotec towns and cities, such as Monte Albán and Mitla. However, the two civilizations coexisted fairly peacefully and, eventually, the two cultures even intertwined.

The arrival of the Aztecs to the region in the 15th century shook things up, though, and both the Zapotecs and Mixtecs were forced to bow down to the powerful empire ruled from the famous Aztec city of Tenochtitlán. Once-powerful indigenous cities like Monte Albán soon lost their importance as the Aztecs created new cities like Huxyacac, meaning "place of guaje trees" in the Nahuatl language. Later, when the Spaniards arrived and made it their own, the name "Oaxaca" would derive from the name "Huxyacac".

In the early 16th century, Tenochtitlán fell to the Spanish and took with it the entire, once-mighty Aztec empire. The Spanish city of Oaxaca was officially founded in 1529 and over the course of the next 300 years, many aspects of life in Oaxaca became Europeanized, with Spaniards filling government positions and essentially running the city. Always a fertile area, Oaxaca prospered thanks to the local agriculture. Under Spanish rule, sugar cane was cultivated and silkworms were imported. However, the Spanish also introduced new diseases that greatly diminished Oaxaca's indigenous population and the obsession with gold led more and more native Oaxacans into the dangerous mines, never to return again.

Mexico won its independence from Spain in 1821 and since then, the city has prospered thanks to its agricultural sector and, later, to a blooming tourist industry that welcomes people from all over the world interested in Oaxaca's history, surroundings and traditional way of life.