Mitla

In nahuatl means "the place of the dead or underworld". It was a contemporary of Monte Alban. It flourished and grew dramatically though after Monte Alban was abandoned. Unlike Monte Alban though, there were still people living and thriving in Mitla when the conquistadores came over from Spain.

The conquistadores took over the region and forced the zapotecas to destroy some of their own buildings and use the stones to construct the catholic church pictured above. The church was built over what was most likely the most important spiritual building to the indigenous people.

This photo shows a piece of a mural that once told the history of the kings and the elite of Mitla. It's amazing to me that pieces of the mural still exist at all.

The zapotecas didn't use any form of cement when constructing these amazing grecas--the designs are simply made by packing the stones together very tightly.