Oaxaca City (I) - 6 C's of Oaxaca, Mexico (January 2024)

After we stayed in Guadalajara for three weeks, we flew to Oaxaca de Juarez, the capital city for the State of Oaxaca in the southern area of Mexico.

Oaxaca is known for many things, but they may be summarized into 6 C's: Church, Climate, Coffee, Cuisine or Comida, Culture, and Color.  

Church

There are more than 20 churches in the city, the most in light of the population. Two are noteworthy: The first one is Templo de Santo Domingo de Guzman, the most famous and popular one in Oaxaca.

and the other one is the Catedral Metropolitana de Oaxaca, located right next to the Zocalo. The interior was somewhat dark, unlike many other churches I have seen in Mexico.

Climate

Oaxaca is located at the height of 1,580 meters or approximately 5,000 feet from the sea level, an ideal height for us similar to the heights of Denver and Kigali, Rwanda where we used to live. This altitude located close to the equator provides the eternal spring climate, ranging between 70-80 F throughout the year. Not bad at all.

Coffee

Another characteristic of the areas with the high altitude, plus with the latitude of 15 degrees from the equator, is that it provides an ideal climate for growing Arabica coffee. Oaxacan coffee is well known for its aroma and smooth taste, along with the coffee from the state of Chiapas.

Cuisine or Comida

Oaxaca is famous for its moles and mezcal. Oaxaca has seven moles that include negro (black and the most popular), green, red, Colorado (dark red), yellow, Chichilo, and Manchamantel. We tasted five of them. They have a little sweet and smooth taste and add a flavor to the food.

Mezcal is a liquor made from agave pineapples. It is a distilled drink and depending on the period of storing in oak barrels, the value rises. Tequila is a kind of Mezcal, but made only from blue agave grown only in five states in the middle. There are many mezcal tasting shops like the photo below. We went to two Mezcal distilleries during out stay as part of two daytrips we made. More in another blog post. 

There are a lot of other Oaxacan cuisines that are popular. Everywhere in Mexico, there are food vendors that proudly display the signs of Oaxacan Cuisines, indicating the popularity of Oaxacan foods. 

Culture

This is a catch-all for anything that has not been mentioned above. This includes the strong culture of Festival for Dead People. There are so many dead people murals and skeletons, all over the city. Other Mexican cities also have similar cultures, but Oaxaca seems to outweigh all others.

Color

Oaxaca is full of colors. The murals on the walls and clothes all display a variety of colors. The Oaxacan colors are as diverse as the Colombian colors, particularly Cartagena. 

We both enjoyed our stay in Oaxaca and we agreed to return to Oaxaca in time, perhaps living for months. - Jeffrey