Oaxaca City Facts
Interesting Facts about Oaxaca City
1. The word Oaxaca come the Nahuatl and means "at the top of the Huaje (Gourd) tree".2. There are at least 18 indigenous groups in the state of Oaxaca, and all of them retain their own languages.
3. For a while the city was named by the Spaniards Nueva Antequera (New Antequera), so today its nickname is "La Verde Antequera" (The Green Antequera) due to the green stone used in many structures.
4. Tomb Seven at Monte Albán is the earliest-known necropolis in North America.
5. In December, during the Dia de los Rabanos (Day of the Radishes), the Governor is the judge of a contest of nativity scenes carved from radishes.
6. Maria Sabina was a contemporary curandera from Oaxaca famous for the use of hallucinogenic mushrooms. John Lennon, Mick Jagger, Bob Dylan and many more rock stars visited the shaman during the 1960's.
7. Chapulines, a dish of fried grasshoppers, is a delicacy in Oaxaca.
8. The Mezcal, an alcoholic beverage similar to Tequila, is from Oaxaca. In the 1940s it was discovered that a worm enhances the flavor of the Mezcal, and since then, most bottles include a worm.
9. Oaxaca is often called Land of the Seven Moles since each of the state's 7 regions produces a different variation of the mole sauce.
10. Oaxaca is the main producer of chocolate in Mexico, and there are many different ways to prepare it.
11. During the Conquest, Hernán Cortes declared himself Marqués del Valle de Oaxaca so he could claim province over the state's mineral deposits.
12. Oaxaca's primary industry is tourism.
Things to See in Oaxaca City
