Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca

Teotitlán del Valle, Oaxaca is known particularly for it's colorful, hand-woven rugs. Teotitlán del Valle is located an easy 28 kilometers from Oaxaca City on Highway 190. The road passes through Santa María del Tule, home of the giant Tule (or Ahuehuete) tree, and continues eastward down the Tlacolula Valley through extensions of waving cornfields with the Oaxaca mountains in the distance.

Teotitlan del Valle is most known for it's beautiful, woven woolen rugs and naturally-dyed textiles, as well as elaborately decorated hand-made candles made of beeswax, shiny metallic paper and paper flowers.

In the town center lies the Church of the Precious Blood of Christ, shown in these photos undergoing restoration of the bell towers. Erected on a site believed to be a ceremonial center of the Zapotecs, the Church structure rises from among the ancient, crumbling stones of the ruins.

Below the Church is a textiles market with numerous stands displaying rugs, serapes and rebozos (shawls). The town itself is riddled with artisan's locales and houses where you can see them at work on their looms and purchase their wares.

In front of the market lies the Balaa Xtee Guech gulal Museum (meaning Shadow, or House, of the Ancient People) where, apart from exhibits of local customs and archeological pieces, the process of rug making is demonstrated. The museum was formed as a community effort with the aim of creating a place where the richness of it's culture could be preserved and disseminated. It was inaugurated in December of 1994 and opened its doors to the public in February of 1995.

About Teotitlan rugs & textiles

Artisans in Focus - The story and world behind the Teotitlán weavers