The Museum of the former Monastery of Santo Domingo in Yanhuitlan preserves cultural and historical treasures of the High Mixtec region of Oaxaca as part of the Dominican trail. Its collection bears witness to the processes of evangelization and colonization, which Mexico underwent as part of the cultural transition of the sixteenth century.

The church is reckoned to be an architectural gem of the viceregal period on account of its majesty and aesthetic and historical value. For these reasons it is listed as part of Mexico’s national heritage. The complex was built in the Baroque style, with magnificently worked altarpieces, objects of a religious nature and a recently restored monumental organ.

Given the way in which it documents the syncretism between pre-Hispanic Mixtec and European cultures, the Museum’s collection is highly relevant to its community, the region, the state and to the country as a whole. This is borne out by the facsimile of the Yanhuitlan Codex.

Dating to 1550, its pages contains some real gems. Although the Codex survives in the form of fragments of pages, research has led to it being set in context, highlighting its documentary and historical value, as well as its beauty and symbolism. The content provides an overview of geographical and political relationships, and of the exploitation of natural resources at the time it was drawn up. It reveals the Mixtec region as a transition zone between the south and the Valley of Mexico, which important trading routes cross today, just as they did in ancient times.

It is worth noting the cartographic style of this document which uses a descriptive pictorial style with Mixtec elements such as calendar glyphs and deities related to the 20-day tribute periods, called “veintenas” in Spanish, of the ritual calendar; in other words it served as an index of items given in tribute, which gives us an insight into the natural wealth and the great trading activity of the period. Throughout the Codex we can also see clerical figures, indigenous nobles, the agreements between caciques, classic European forms of rhetoric and pre-Hispanic buildings.