🏛️ Historic Centre of Oaxaca and Archaeological Site of Monte Albán
UNESCO World Heritage Site combining pre-Hispanic and colonial heritage in southern Mexico
📋 Fast Facts
- Joint UNESCO inscription: 1987, combining Monte Albán (founded ~500–600 BCE) and Oaxaca City (founded 1529)
- Monte Albán sits 400 meters above the Oaxaca Valley on an artificially flattened mountaintop
- Monte Albán population peaked at approximately 25,000 people between 300–700 CE
- Located in Oaxaca state, southern Mexico; coordinates 17.046323, −96.768133
The Historic Centre of Oaxaca and the Archaeological Site of Monte Albán together form a UNESCO World Heritage Site inscribed in 1987. The property combines two distinct yet interrelated chapters of Oaxaca's history: an ancient Zapotec urban center perched on a mountaintop and a colonial Spanish city built on pre-Hispanic foundations in the valley below. Together, they exemplify the cultural layering and continuity of the Oaxaca Valley from pre-Columbian times through Spanish colonization to ...