Oaxaca City

The capital of Oaxaca state occupies a highland valley and centers on the Zócalo, a tree-shaded square flanked by the Santo Domingo baroque church and the state's government palace. Dark green cantera stone, the local volcanic building material, gives the colonial architecture a distinctive visual character found nowhere else in Mexico. The city is also a culinary epicenter, with regional specialties such as mole negro, tlayudas, and mezcal drawing food-focused travelers from around the world.