Frommer's Review
Next to the Santo Domingo Church (6 blocks north of the zócalo) is the most impressive museum in the city, housed in a former Dominican convent -- one of the greatest of colonial Mexico. Construction was largely completed by the early 1600s. The government has spent millions to renovate the former convent, and it shows. The stairs, the arches, the cupolas -- everywhere you look, there are lovely details in stone or in the remnants of colonial-era murals. The museum is an ambitious project that displays the course of human development in the Oaxaca valley from earliest times to the 20th century.
The most treasured possessions are the artifacts from Monte Albán's Tomb 7, which were discovered in 1932. The tomb contained 12 to 14 corpses and some 500 pieces of jewelry and art, making use of almost 8 pounds of gold and turquoise, conch shell, amber, and obsidian. This is part of a larger collection of artifacts from Monte Albán, which you would do well to see before going up to the ruins. In the many ceramics and carvings you can see definite Olmec and Teotihuacán influences, yet they display a style distinctly different from either culture. Other rooms are dedicated to the present-day ethnographic makeup of Oaxaca and a brief history of the efforts of the Dominican order in the region. Attached to the convent is the Santo Domingo Church. From some points on the north side of the convent you can look down over the recently opened botanical garden. Admission to the garden is free but by guided tour only (at 1 and 6pm). Sign up at the front desk of the museum the same day of the tour. There are two tours a week in English; ask for info at the front desk.
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