Museo de las Culturas de Oaxaca

The beautiful monastery buildings adjoining the Iglesia de Santo Domingo house, the not-to-be-missed Museo de las Culturas de Oaxaca. One of the best regional museums in Mexico, this takes you right through the history and cultures of Oaxaca state up to the present day. Explanatory material is in Spanish, but you can rent good audio guides in English for around $50. Also here is a good book and souvenir shop.

A gorgeous green-stone cloister serves as antechamber to the museum proper. The museum emphasizes the direct lineage between Oaxaca's pre-Hispanic and contemporary indigenous cultures, illustrating continuity in such areas as crafts, medicine, food, drink and music. The greatest highlight is the Mixtec treasure from Tumba 7 at Monte Albán, in Room III. This treasure dates from the 14th century, when Mixtecs reused an old Zapotec tomb to bury one of their kings and his sacrificed servants. With the bodies they placed a hoard of beautifully worked silver, turquoise, coral, jade, amber and pearls, finely carved bone, crystal goblets, a skull covered in turquoise and a lot of gold. The treasure was discovered in 1932 by Alfonso Caso.

The museum's first four rooms are devoted to the pre-Hispanic period, the next four to the colonial period, the following five to Oaxaca in the independence era and after, and the final room (14) to Santo Domingo Monastery itself. At the end of one long corridor, glass doors give a view into the beautifully ornate choir of Santo Domingo Church.