Oaxaca de Juárez (Zapotekisch Ndua) ist die Hauptstadt des mexikanischen Bundesstaates Oaxaca und liegt in einem Tal der Sierra Madre del Sur, auf rund 1550 m. Das historische Zentrum der Stadt gehört seit 1987 zum UNESCO-Weltkulturerbe. Im Jahre 2020 zählte die Stadt rund 271.000 Einwohner.
Weitere Informationen bei Prof. Dr.Jannis Harjus.
Universidad Autónoma Benito Juárez de Oaxaca
Auszug aus der UNESCO-Welterbe-Beschreibung zur Stadt Oaxaca:
The city of Oaxaca de Juarez, initially named Antequera, was founded in 1529 in a small valley occupied by a group of Zapotec Indians. It is an example of sixteenth XVI century colonial city and of town planning given that it retains its trace in the form of checkerboard with square blocks and portals on all four sides of the square.
The centre of the city remains the centre of economic, political, social, religious and cultural activities that give dynamism to the city. It retains its iconic architecture and the buildings representative of a cultural tradition of more than four centuries of art and history. A total of 1,200 historic monuments has been inventoried and listed. The major religious monuments, the superb patrician town houses and whole streets lined with other dwellings combine to create a harmonious cityscape, and reconstitute the image of a former colonial city whose monumental aspect has been kept intact. Fine architectural quality also characterizes the 19th-century buildings in this city that was the birthplace of Benito Juarez and which, in 1872, adopted the name of Oaxaca de Juarez. Being located in a highly seismic zone, the architecture of the city of Oaxaca is characterized by thick walls and low buildings. The mestizo population keeps alive both traditions and ancestral customs.