Here's a little bit of history of CASA: This place used to…read morebe an early-20th-century textile mill, a few years ago it was purchased by Oaxacan Artist Francisco Toledo, to be later converted in 2006 into the 1st Latin American center for Ecological Arts. There's also Arte Papel, Toledo's hand made paper workshop, which before used to be the hacienda's hydro electric power plant. Today it was the 1st time I visited this place, I've been around since a couple minutes away there's an organic market every Sunday. There was a textile exposition, all of the clothes shown were from different plays & authors, like Shakespeare. You can see Toledo's details in every inch of CASA combined with the old architecture of the place. We were also able to see a worker in one of the workshops making socks. It was amazing to see how it was done. The expositions are changing constantly, so you never know what you'll see. Also don't forget to take a rest in the gardens, there's different kinds of cacti, flowers and even some fruit trees like mandarin. Really nice place where you can bring your kids, and after go for a walk in town. The best part: you can find all of this & more on 30 minutes outside Oaxaca.

What an amazingly gorgeous space and oasis of calm in the center of Oaxaca City! It has a library,…read morecafe, gift shop, and event space providing free events. Their outdoor space is a wonderful place to hang out. I'll be there again next time I'm in town!!!

Great coffee and vibes. The barista was amazing! Very friendly staff, especially the barista. Her…read morelatte art was on point!

We spent the month of December renting a house outside of Oaxaca so did a lot of exploring. Just…read moreup the road was this little town without a downtown or central plaza. At least as far as we could see. Driving up a road past a few small restaurants we came to an old factory. Don't know the name of it, but it was from very early 1900s and was hosting an exhibit of textiles. Apparently this had been a textile factory and now it was two stories of beautifully word pine flooring, a number of water ponds and flowing water and a number of small classrooms and offices. We went to the museum and used the nice bathrooms and then were directed or advised that the paper factory that we were looking for was down below the museum. Doubtful we were in trying to drive down the washed out road so asked and found that there was a left hand turn if we went back the way we came. Ah ha! We did and turned down at least a passable road, past hibiscus bushes and a couple of homes and the road ended at another building which looked like an electrical station. I guess it was at one time as water ways directed flow from the higher hills through and around this building to a stream below. And there we found this paper fabrication effort. Very old and very traditional there was an old man there who spoke no English. He offered a tour and there we were, taking a very steep stone stepping path down to his shop, a metal roofed shed. Just outside were tables with the various items of nature what he broke down for their fibers. There were nuts, leafs, roots and just things. Inside his long shed were tanks of water filled with, well...fibers that were soaking into a pulp to then be screened and dried into sheets of paper. Pretty exotic. The tanks of water were like old machine components so it matched the museum building above and the powerhouse-like building that was just above us. Fascinating. A very nice guy and as we were finishing a group of young Mexican couples came down for the tour, so this was a known entity. They told us that the powerhouse building did have some paper for sale, so up we went. Not much was to be had, but this was December and with the holidays most things, to include the little restaurants were shut down. This is an interesting area about 10 miles north of Oaxaca. Worth exploring and we were told that a few of the restaurants were well known. If you have a car...check it out.

Features local artists and one of a kind art items for your souvenirs or to ship back home. This is…read morewhere you want to shop for those unique pieces that you cant find anywhere else.

I was told that this was the place to buy quality crafts. I was very disappointed. The selection…read morewas limited and I didn't find anything particularly special. I wanted to buy placemats, but they only had one of the mat I wanted. I would have liked to get four for my table. Staff was not helpful. I would certainly not go out of my way to come here. Many other stores in Centro with wider selections.

Another must see and do when in Oaxaca The architect and…read moreartifacts are mind blowing The Santo Domingo Cultural Center is a cultural complex that is located in what was one of the most important convents in the colony. It is a large convent in which the Museum of Cultures of Oaxaca, the Fray Francisco de Burgoa Library and the Ethnobotanical Garden have been established. The Santo Domingo Cultural Center has multipurpose spaces in the former convent, in which temporary exhibitions, conferences, courses, book presentations and concerts, among many other activities, are held.

The beautiful setting and amazing artifacts are worth a visit, preferably with a guide. No staff…read morespoke any English. No entrance signs in another language. Our friends had their experience ruined by lack of handicap accessibility AND the guard who aggressively asked for proof in a card. Her brace wasn't enough proof. Made even more confusing because a nicer guard had already given her a wheelchair. Beyond two rooms on the first floor there was nothing to see for her. Another guard wouldn't let us even try to follow her because we were not following the arrows. The stairs are quit steep. Despite all of this my husband says it was one of the best museums he has ever been to and would like to go back with a guide. Go early to avoid crowds.

This was the only place I could find leather skull key rings for dia de Muertos 2023 presents for…read moreour kids left at home! Excellent quality & reasonably priced at 50 pesos each

One reason I stopped in Oaxaca was to pick up a rug -- not too big as it had to fit in my backpack…read more This city is a great place to explore traditional well-made crafts and textiles. There is a depth and variety of style here, too, because Oaxaca is home to so many artists. I was looking for a simply-designed rug with natural plant and insect dyes. Most rugs use chemical dyes because chemicals are easier to obtain and cheaper to buy. Most buyers in these markets don't care because they typically want a conversation piece so the demand is not there. I have shopped at a few stores in Oaxaca over the years. (MARO, the women's artist cooperative nearby is a worthwhile place to check out.) The people here at Casa de las Artesanías de Oaxaca were all very helpful. I spoke with an elderly woman weaver who showed me some beautiful rugs but none with natural dyes. One of the weavers said that natural dyes are more difficult to find because there are far fewer skilled persons locally that know which plants and insects to use and the methods to produce the dyes are labor-intensive. After a hunt, I was brought some natural-dyed rugs but the designs were too touristy for my taste. One fellow said he had a rug but didn't think I would like the design because it was very unusual. I was curious so he pulled it out from under a large pile of more popular offerings. Unusual it was and even the elderly woman weaver didn't know what to make of it. She said she had never seen such a design and it surely wasn't Mexican-influenced. I loved it and bought weaver Agostin Mendoza's what I call 'Mexican mid-century-modern' rug.