Monte Alban

Posted: December 9, 2019 by admin

The Oaxaca valley has two very important Mesoamerica sites, Monte Alban and Mitla. For lovers of historical ruins like me, these were both really great.

Monte Alban is one of Mesoamerica’s most spectacular ruined cities and lies just outside of Oaxaca. It reigned for over 1200 years from 500 BC through about 750 AD, most of this time ruled by the Zapotec peoples. The restoration work is very well done and you can get a true feeling for the size and scale of the ancient city.

White flowering tree common at Monte Alban.

View of the famous building J, dating from about year 1 in Christian calendar. The only building not at right angles and cause for much speculation about other worldly influence. There are well preserved carvings readily visible on the exterior walls that some say substantiate their theories.

Pretty intact carving from period I (500 BC>0)

View from the speaker’s position, North Platform. The entire layout emphasized acoustics. When the king spoke from this place, all of those people down there could hear him! While you are visiting the site, the guides will demonstrate this and you can hear everything.

Yes, I did climb these steps. Not easy for me, but that little railing sure helped!

Very well restored/preserved ball court, Monte Alban. Supposedly, some types of mistakes by a player resulted in their beheading. These ball games were taken very seriously throughout the various cultures of Mesoamerica.

Category: Mexico 2019

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

%d bloggers like this: