Had I been the priest-king of a large Indian nation in search of the perfect site on which to build a ceremonial center, this would have been it.  Monte Albán sits on a mountain that rises from the middle of the valley floor - or, rather, divides two valleys.  From here you can see all that lies between you and the distant mountains.

Starting around 2000 B.C., village-dwelling peoples of unknown origin inhabited the Oaxaca valleys.  Between 800 and 500 B.C., a new ceramic style appeared, indicating an influx of new peoples, now called Zapotec.  Around 500 B.C., these peoples began the monumental exercise of leveling the top of a mountain, where they would build Monte Albán (mohn-teh ahl-bahn).

Very little of the original structures remain; they've either been obscured beneath newer construction or had their stones reused for other buildings.  The Danzantes friezes date from this period.

A center of Zapotec culture, Monte Albán was also influenced by contemporary cultures outside the valley of Mexico.  You can see Olmec influence in the early sculptures; more recent masks and sculptures reflect contact with the Maya.  When Monte Albán was at its zenith in A.D. 300, it borrowed architectural ideas from Teotihuacán.  By around A.D. 800, the significance of Monte Albán in Zapotec society began to wane.  Although most likely never completely abandoned, it became a shadow of its former grandeur.  At the beginning of the 13th century, the Mixtec appropriated Monte Albán.  The Mixtec, who had long coexisted in the area with the Zapotec, began expanding their territory.  At Monte Albán, they added little to the existing architecture; however, they seem to have considered it an appropriate burial ground for their royalty.  They left many tombs, including Tomb 7, with its famous treasure.

Monte Albán centers on the Great Plaza, a man-made area created by flattening the mountaintop.  From this plaza, aligned north to south, you can survey the Oaxacan valley.  The excavations at Monte Albán have revealed more than 170 tombs, numerous ceremonial altars, stelae, pyramids, and palaces.

Begin your tour of the ruins on the eastern side of the Great Plaza at the I-shaped ball court.  This ball court differs slightly from Maya and Toltec ball courts in that there are no goal rings, and the sides of the court slope.  Also on the east side of the plaza are several altars and pyramids that were once covered with stucco.  Note the sloping walls, wide stairs, and ramps; all are typical of Zapotec architecture and reminiscent of the architecture of Teotihuacán.  The building, slightly out of line with the plaza (not on the north-south axis), is thought by some to have been an observatory; it was probably aligned with the heavenly bodies rather than with the points of the compass.

The south side of the plaza has a large platform that bore several stelae, most of which are now in the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City.  There's a good view of the surrounding area from the top of this platform.

The west side has more ceremonial platforms and pyramids.  On top of the pyramid substructure are four columns that probably supported the roof of the temple at one time.

The famous Building of the Dancers (Danzantes), on the west side of the plaza, is the earliest known structure at Monte Albán.  This building is covered with large stone slabs that have distorted naked figures carved into them (the ones you see are copies; the originals are protected in the site museum).  There is speculation about who carved these figures and what they represent, although there is a distinct resemblance to the Olmec baby faces at La Venta, in Tabasco state.  The distorted bodies and pained expressions might connote disease.  Clear examples of figures representing childbirth, dwarfism, and infantilism are visible.  Because of the fluid movement represented in the figures, they became known as the Danzantes - merely a modern label for these ancient and mysterious carvings.

The Northern Platform is a maze of temples and palaces interwoven with subterranean tunnels and sanctuaries.  Take time to wander here, for there are numerous reliefs, glyphs, paintings, and friezes along the lintels and jambs as well as the walls.  In this section of the ruins, you are likely to see vendors discreetly selling "original" artifacts found at the site.  These guys come from the nearby town of Arrazola, where the fabrication of "antiquities" is a long-standing cottage industry.  I like to buy a piece from them occasionally and pretend I'm getting the real thing just to get an opportunity to talk with them.

Leaving the Great Plaza, head north to the cemetery and tombs.  If you have a day to spend at Monte Albán, be sure to visit some of the tombs, which contain magnificent glyphs, paintings, and stone carvings of gods, goddesses, birds, and serpents.  Lately, the tombs have been closed to the public, but check anyway.  Of the tombs so far excavated, the most famous is Tomb 7, next to the parking lot.  It yielded some 500 pieces of gold, amber, and turquoise jewelry, as well as silver, alabaster, and bone art objects.  This amazing collection is on display at the Regional Museum of Oaxaca.

As you enter the site, you'll see a museum, a shop with guidebooks to the ruins, a cafe, and a craft shop.  I recommend purchasing a guidebook.  Video camera permits cost $5.  The site is open daily from 8am to 6pm.  Admission to the ruins is $4.  Licensed guides charge $15 per person for a walking tour.

To get to Monte Albán, take a bus from the Hotel Mesón del Angel, Mina 518, at Mier y Terán.  Autobuses Turísticos makes seven runs daily, at 8:30, 9:30, 10:30, and 11:30am and 12:30, 1:30, and 3:30pm.  Return service leaves the ruins at 11am, noon, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5:30pm.  The round-trip fare is $4.  The ride takes a half-hour, and your scheduled return time is 2 hours after arrival.  It's possible to take a later return for an additional $1 (though you won't be guaranteed a seat); inform the driver of your intent.  During high season there are usually additional buses.  If you're driving from Oaxaca, take Calle Trujano out of town.  It becomes the road to Monte Albán, about 10km (6 miles) away.

East of Oaxaca, the Pan American Highway (Hwy. 190) leads to Mitla and passes several important archaeological sites, markets, and craft villages.  You can visit the famous El Tule tree, an enormous, ancient cypress; the church at Tlacochahuaya, a lovely example of a 17th-century village church; the ruins at Dainzú, Lambityeco, and Yagul; the weaver's village of Teotitlán del Valle; and the village of Tlacolula, with its famous Dominican chapel.

There are a lot of little stops on this route, and some are a bit off the highway, so I recommend hiring a taxi, renting a car, or signing up with a small tour rather than using local bus transportation.  If you take a tour, ask which sites it includes.  To get to the highway, go north from downtown to Calzada Niños Héroes and turn right.  This feeds directly on to the highway.  All the sites are listed in order, from west (Oaxaca) to east (Mitla).

Santa Maria del Tule's 2,000 Year Old Tree - a small town 8km (5 miles) outside Oaxaca.  It's famous for the immense El Tule Tree, an ahuehuete (Montezuma cypress, akin to the bald cypress) standing in a churchyard just off the main road.  Now over 2,000 years old, it looks every bit its age, the way large cypresses do.  However, this one is the most impressive tree I've ever seen for the sheer width of its trunk and canopy.  It is said to have the broadest trunk of any tree in the world.  When the tree was younger, the entire region around Santa María del Tule was marshland; in fact, the word tule means "reed."  Now, the water table has dropped, so to protect the tree, a private foundation waters and takes care of it.  The 25¢ admission fee goes toward these efforts.

The Iglesia de San Jerónimo Tlacochahuaya, 6km (4 miles) farther along, is the next stop.  You'll see a sign pointing right; go another mile into town.  Inside the church is an elaborately carved altar and a crucifix fashioned out of a ground paste made from the corn plant.  The murals decorating the walls were the work of local artists of the 18th century and are a sweet mix of Spanish and Indian aesthetics.  Make a point of seeing the beautifully painted baroque organ in the choir loft.  The church is usually open from 10am to 2pm and 4 to 8pm.

Dainzu's Zapotec Ruins - Three kilometers (2 miles) farther, visible from the highway (26km/16 miles from Oaxaca), you'll see a sign pointing to the right.  It's less than a mile to the ruins, which were first excavated in the 1960s.  Dainzú is a pre-Classic site that dates from between 700 and 600 B.C.  Increasingly sophisticated building continued until about A.D. 300.  The site occupies the western face of a hill, presumably for defense.  The main building is a platform structure whose walls were decorated with carvings resembling Monte Albán's Danzantes.  These carvings are now in a protective shed; a caretaker will unlock it for interested parties.  These figures show Olmec influence but differ from the Danzantes because they wear the trappings of the "ball game," which make them in all likelihood the earliest representations of the ball game in Mexico. -  In fact, a partially reconstructed ball court sits below the main structure.  The site provides an outstanding view of the valley.  Admission is $3.

Teotitlan del Valle's Beautiful Rugs - The next major turnoff you come to is 2km (1 1/2 miles) farther along, 3km (2 miles) from the highway.  This is Teotitlán, famous for weaving, and now an obviously prosperous town, to judge by all the current development.  This is where you'll want to go for rugs, and you'll find no shortage of weavers and stores.  Most weavers sell out of their homes and give demonstrations.  The prices are considerably lower than in Oaxaca.

The church in town is well worth a visit.  The early friars used pre-Hispanic construction stones to build the church and then covered them with adobe.  When the townspeople renovated the church, they rediscovered these stones with carved figures, and now proudly display them.  You'll see them in odd places in the walls of the church and sacristy.  Teotitlán also has a small community museum, opposite the artisans' market and adjacent to the church.  The museum has an interesting exhibit on natural dye-making, using herbs, plants, and cochineal.

For a bite to eat, consider the Restaurant Tlamanalli, Av. Juárez 39 (tel. 951/524-4006), run by three Zapotec sisters who serve Oaxacan cuisine.  Its reputation attracts lots of foreigners.  It's on the right on the main street as you approach the main part of town, in a red brick building with black wrought-iron window covers.  It's open Monday through Friday from 1 to 4pm.  A bit farther on, there's another nice restaurant on the left where the main street intersects with the town center.

Lambityeco's Rain God - Getting back to the highway and continuing eastward, in 3km (2 miles) you'll see a turnoff on the right for the small archaeological site of Lambityeco.  Of particular interest are the two beautifully executed and preserved stucco masks of the rain god Cocijo.  At Lambityeco, a major product was salt, distilled from saline groundwaters nearby.  Admission is $3.

Tlacolula's Fine Market & Unique Chapel - Located about 32km (20 miles) from Oaxaca (1.5km/1 mile past Lambityeco), Tlacolula is in mezcal country, and along the road from here to Mitla, you'll see a couple of small distilleries and distillery outlets advertising their product.  Feel free to stop by any one of them to taste their wares. Mezcal is distilled from a species of agave different from that of tequila.  Most mezcal has a very strong smell and may or may not come with a worm in the bottle.  Many of these small distilleries flavor their mezcal in much the same way that Russians flavor vodka.

Sunday is market day in Tlacolula, with rows of textiles fluttering in the breeze and aisle after aisle of pottery and baskets.  If you don't go on market day, you have the advantage of not competing with crowds.  The Capilla del Mártir of the parochial church is a stunning display of virtuosity in wrought iron.  The doorway, choir screen, and pulpit, with their baroque convolutions, have no equals in Mexico's religious architecture.  Also eye-catching are the realistic, almost life-size sculptures of the 12 apostles in their various manners of martyrdom.  A few years ago, a secret passage was found in the church, leading to a room that contained valuable silver religious pieces.  The silver was hidden during the Revolution of 1916, when there was a tide of anticlerical sentiment; the articles are now back in the church.

Yagul's Zapotec Fortress - Yagul, a fortress city on a hill overlooking the valley, is a couple of kilometers farther on down the highway.  You'll see the turnoff to the left; it's about a half-mile off the road.  The setting is spectacular, and because the ruins are not as fully reconstructed as those at Monte Albán, you're likely to have the place to yourself.  It's a good place for a picnic lunch.

The city was divided into two sections: the fortress at the top of the hill and the palaces lower down.  The center of the palace complex is the plaza, surrounded by four temples.  In the center is a ceremonial platform, under which is the Triple Tomb.  The door of the tomb is a large stone slab decorated on both sides with beautiful hieroglyphs. The tomb may be open for viewing; if there are two guards, one can leave the entrance to escort visitors.

Look for the beautifully restored, typically Zapotec ball court.  North of the plaza is the palace structure built for the chiefs of the city.  It's a maze of rooms and patios decorated with painted stucco and stone mosaics.  Visible here and there are ceremonial mounds and tombs decorated in the same geometric patterns found in Mitla.  The panoramic view of the valley from the fortress is worth the rather exhausting climb.

Admission is $3.  Still cameras are free, but use of a video camera costs $5.  The site is open daily from 8am to 5:30pm.

It's just a few kilometers farther southeast to Mitla.  The turnoff comes at a very obvious fork in the road.

Mitla's Large Zapotec & Mixtec Site - Mitla is 4km (2 3/4 miles) from the highway; the turnoff terminates at the ruins by the church.  If you've come here by bus, it's about a half-mile up the road from the dusty town square to the ruins; if you want to hire a cab, there are some in the square.

The Zapotec settled Mitla around 600 B.C., and it became a Mixtec bastion in the late 10th century.  This city was still flourishing at the time of the Spanish Conquest, and many of the buildings were used through the 16th century.

Tour groups often bypass the town of Mitla (pop. 7,000), but it is worth a visit.  The University of the Americas maintains the Museum of Zapotec Art (previously known as the Frissell collection) in town.  It contains some outstanding Zapotec and Mixtec relics.  Admission is $3.  Be sure to look at the Leigh collection, which contains some real treasures.  The museum is in a beautiful old hacienda.

You can easily see the most important buildings in an hour.  Mixtec architecture is based on a quadrangle surrounded on three or four sides by patios and chambers, usually rectangular.  The chambers are under a low roof, which is excellent for defense but makes the rooms dark and close.  The stone buildings are inlaid with small cut stones to form geometric patterns.

There are five groups of buildings, divided by the Mitla River.  The most important buildings are on the east side of the ravine.  The Group of the Columns consists of two quadrangles, connected at the corners with palaces.  The building to the north has a long chamber with six columns and many rooms decorated with geometric designs.  The most common motif is the zigzag pattern, the same one seen repeatedly on Mitla blankets.  Human and animal images are rare in Mixtec art.  In fact, only one frieze has been found (in the Group of the Church, on the north patio).  Here, you'll see a series of figures painted with their name glyphs.

Admission to the site is $3.  Use of a video camera costs $5.  Entrance to the museum is included in the price.  It's open daily from 8am to 5pm.

Outside the ruins, vendors will hound you.  The moment you step out of a car or taxi, every able-bodied woman and child for miles around will come charging over with shrill cries and a basket full of bargains - heavily embroidered belts, small pieces of pottery, fake archaeological relics, and cheap earrings.  Offer to pay half the price the vendors ask.  There's a modern handicrafts market near the ruins, but prices are lower in town.