Two other museums of archaeology within ten miles of Oaxaca city are open to visitors. The has a small museum displaying artifacts taken from the ruin.
Eight miles west of the city, San Jose el Mogote, built in 1200 BC and the oldest stone city in the State, has a small museum and should be high on the list for those wanting to study the ancient art that developed in the valley of Oaxaca. The artifacts in the small museum at the site show Olmec influence, some being similar to those found in the Olmec settlements on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico and displayed in the Veracruz Xalapa museum or at the La Venta Museum in Villa Hermosa.
This artistic style with Olmec and Teotihuacan influence continued after San Jose el Mogote waned around 500 BC, and evolved into a unique Oaxacan style at the city on the mountaintop now call Monte Alban.
The art of ancient Oaxaca continued to evolve, culminating in intricate mold-made tomb offerings of the 2nd to the 8Th Century AD Classic period, many of which are displayed in the Rufino Tamayo Museum of Pre-hispanic Art..
Thirty miles south of the city, the Mitla Ruin Site shows the influence of a later style developed by the Mixtec who entered the Oaxaca region after the decline of Monte Alban
The Tenth Century AD City of Mitla reflects the influence on the local architecture of the Mixtec people who came into the valley of Oaxaca from the northern mountains.
Santo Domingo Museum Oaxaca, now called the Santo Domingo Cultural Center is one of several museums located in the capital city of Oaxaca State.
The museum building is the largest of the old colonial building in the State and was once a church and convent built in the mid-sixteenth century by the Dominican order.
The City of Oaxaca offers luxury hotels, a modern airport, rental cars and many ruin sites including two of the oldest stone cities in the new world, Monte Alban and San Jose el Mogote. Both of these ruin sites have museums displaying pre-Hispanic artifacts..
From Archaeological digs throughout the State, historic and important records of the culture and heritage of the region come to the museum in Oaxaca City for display.
Oaxaca City Museums, Oaxaca, Mexico
Santo Domingo Cultural Center was once a Dominican church and convent. After more than four years of preservation and restoration, it opened in 1998 as the City's premier museum.
The Santo Domingo Museum and Cultural Center displays objects created in the city that once flourished on the distant hill to the right, now the mountain-top ruin of Monte Alban, active from 500 BC to 750 AD.
During the Seventeenth Century the building served as a Dominican convent.
Mexico's independence in the mid 19th century brought Federalization of the complex and it became a military installation. The church closed in 1866 and did not open again until 1902.
The military returned the building to civil use in 1993 and it was designated for cultural use.
In July of 1998, after 50 months of restoration and preservation work, the Santo Domingo Cultural Center opened for visitors
A botanical garden designed to display and protect Oaxaca's indigenous plants is open for guided tours in several languages, the Oaxaca Historical Ethnobotanical Garden
The Santo Domingo Cultural Center is home to four institutions, The Oaxaca Historical Ethnobotanical Gardens, The Oaxaca Cultures Museum, The Friar Francisco de Burgoa Library, and the Journalist Nestor Sanchez H. Publications Library. The publications library has reading rooms for visitors where newspapers and magazines are available. The Burgoa Library preserves antique books that date back to 1484 and are available to scholars. Many other sections of the complex become art galleries for changing photography exhibits and concert and meeting space.
Ceramic vessels of a type found in the southern regions of Oaxaca state and in coastal chiapas
Museo de Arte Pre-Hispánico Rufino Tamayo
Oaxaca, Oaxaca, Mexico
Closed Tuesdays Hours 10-2, 4-7pm, Sunday 10AM - 3PM Fee 34 Pesos
Oaxaca City museums include the Santo Domingo Cultural Center. The Santo Domingo Church was once a Dominican church and convent that, after more than four years of preservation and restoration, opened in 1998 as the City's premier museum.
Oaxaca City museums display modern and ancient art in a region rich in ancient ruins.