Santo Domingo Yanhuitlán is a village and municipality in the state of

Oaxaca Oaxaca ( , also , , from nci, Huāxyacac ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca), is one of the 32 states that compose the political divisions of Mexico, Federative Entities of Mexico. It is ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, located northeast of

Oaxaca city Oaxaca de Juárez (), also Oaxaca City or simply Oaxaca (Valley Zapotec languages, Zapotec: ''Ndua''), is the capital and largest city of the eponymous Administrative divisions of Mexico, Mexican state Oaxaca. It is the municipal seat for the surr ...

. It is part of the

Nochixtlán District Nochixtlán District is located in the southeast of the Mixteca Region of the State of Oaxaca, Mexico. The main city is Asunción Nochixtlán. Municipalities The district includes the following municipalities: *Asunción Nochixtlán * Magdalen ...

in the southeast of the

Mixteca Region The Mixteca Region is a region in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico, part of the broader La Mixteca area which covers parts of the states of Puebla, Guerrero and Oaxaca. The region includes the districts of Juxtlahuaca, Silacayoapam, Huajuapan, Coixtlah ...

. It is 2,140 meters above sea level. Its name comes from the patron saint of the town (Saint Dominic) and the last part is from

Náhuatl Nahuatl (; ), Aztec, or Mexicano is a language or, by some definitions, a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by about Nahua peoples, most of whom live mainly in Central Mexico and have smaller ...

meaning “near something new”.

The town

Before it was a colonial town, Yanhuitlán existed as an ''

altepetl The (, plural ''altepeme'' or ''altepemeh'') was the local, ethnically-based political entity, usually translated into English as "city-state," of pre-Columbian Nahuatl-speaking societiesSmith 1997 p. 37 in the Americas. The ''altepetl'' was co ...

'' in

Mesoamerica Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area in southern North America and most of Central America. It extends from approximately central Mexico through Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and northern Costa Rica. W ...

. After the fall of Tenōchtitlan in 1521, many city-states such as Yanhuitlán, acquired new degrees of sovereignty from the

Aztec empire The Aztec Empire or the Triple Alliance ( nci, Ēxcān Tlahtōlōyān, Help:IPA/Nahuatl, �jéːʃkaːn̥ t͡ɬaʔtoːˈlóːjaːn̥ was an alliance of three Nahua peoples, Nahua altepetl, city-states: , , and . These three city-states ruled ...

. Local leaders in Yanhuitlán opposed the arrival of

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

missionaries. The town was founded by Dominican friars 10 years after the Spanish came to Oaxaca. Historically, in colonial times, Yanhuitlán was an important commercial center of the

Mixtec The Mixtecs (), or Mixtecos, are indigenous Mesoamerican peoples of Mexico inhabiting the region known as La Mixteca of Oaxaca and Puebla as well as La Montaña Region and Costa Chica Regions of the state of Guerrero. The Mixtec Culture wa ...

people, exporting

silk Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the coc ...

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

Puebla Puebla ( en, colony, settlement), officially Free and Sovereign State of Puebla ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Puebla), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its cap ...

and

. Communal earnings are kept in chests locked with three keys to conserve them for the cultural development of each of the seven “neighborhoods” of Yanahuitlán: Ayuxu Dana, Xayujo, Tico, Tinde, Yudayo. Yuxacoyo y Yuyuxa. The municipality is dominated by the Templo y Ex-convento de Santo Domingo (Temple and former convent of Saint Dominic), built around the middle of the 16th century on pre-Hispanic foundations. It has a notable façade, baptismal font, “sotocoro” roof, a large number of fine colonial-era ''santos'' (statues of the saints) various altarpieces (retablos) on the sides of the church as well as a main altarpiece constructed like a folding screen.Santos in Oaxaca's Ancient Churches: Yanhuitlán
Retrieved 2012-4-17. It also contains an antique

pipe organ The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ''ranks ...

built around 1700 and restored to playing condition by Pascal Quoirin in 1998.

The codex

The codex was written by its inhabitants around 1550, made on European paper, dated 1550 to 1570, to celebrate the agreement between chiefs, religious and encomendero, the document also intended to take stock of what had in taxes and tequitl work or the community to their new rulers. It is currently in the special collections of the José María Lafragua Historical Library of the Autonomous University of Puebla.

The municipality

As municipal seat, Yanhuitlán has governing jurisdiction over the following communities: Barrio de los Arcos, Caja de Agua, El Jazmín, La Cantera, La Cieneguilla, La Laguna, Los Dos Corazones, Rancho Celerino, vendaño, Río Grande, San Sebastián (Primera Sección), Tijua, Tooxi, Xaacahua, Xacañi, Xahayucuanino, Yucudahuico, Yudayo, and Yuxaxiño

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Santo Domingo Yanhuitlan Municipalities of Oaxaca