Monte Albán is located on a mountaintop high above the Valley of Oaxaca. Between 500 B.C. and A.D. 750 it was the capital of the Zapotecs and one of the most important cities in all of Mexico. The Zapotecs leveled the top of the mountain in order to build their great ceremonial center of temples and palaces.
As you enter the archaeological site, the first thing you see is the ball court.
Then you come into the great plaza which is 1000 feet long. On each side and in the middle are plafforms upon which temples and palaces were built.
At one end of the plaza is the South Platform.
The spectacular view makes the climb worthwhile.
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| (photo taken by a kind tourist) |
At the base of one of the temples are a series of carvings which date from early in the city's history. They portray naked men in contorted positions. They were nicknamed "Los Danzantes" (The Dancers). The consensus among archaeologists is that they are not dancers, but enemy chieftains who were captured in war. They are writhing in agony after being tortured prior to being sacrificed.
From the temple of "Los Danzantes" we cross the plaza to the North Platform at the opposite end.
At the top of the North Platform there is another section of ruins that had not even been excavated the first time that I visited Monte Albán in 1973. This area includes a sunken patio and at least a half dozen more temples.
From the tops of those temples there are more outstanding views...
with the city of Oaxaca far below.
Whoever was the "site selector" for all the pyramids and villages of the ancient ones sure knew how to pick the best places, to put it mildly.
ReplyDeleteTulum comes to mind. Have you been to Tikal? That, to me is the most exceptional place I've ever been. It took hours and hours to walk through it. I was overwhelmed by the beauty, the size and the monkeys overhead! ha. In fact I LOVE Guatemala......period.
I've never been to Tikal. However, it and Calakmul (in the state of Campeche) are on my list of ruins I would like to visit. Jane, who is with me here in Oaxaca, was in Guatemala years ago, and she loved it.
DeleteGreat Photos! When F and I were in Oaxaca, we made the fatal error of taking a tour to Monte Albán. We spent the next 50 minutes running around the ruins before departing for an alibrije workshop and then later a black clay workshop. Too much for one day; I could have spent hours simply looking at Monte Albán.
ReplyDeleteI guess I'll have to go back.
Saludos,
Kim G
Boston, MA
Where you can take a "duck tour" and quack at the locals.
There is a travel agency in a hotel in downtown Oaxaca that offers round trip transportation (no tour guide... you're on your own) via van up to the ruins. They give you 3 hours to explore, which is just about right. In three hours we saw everything (except we never did find Tomb 7), and climbed everything. In fact, after 3 hours I don't think our legs would have let us do any more.
DeleteSaludos,
Bill