The Church and Ex-convent of Carmen Alto

This religious complex belonged to the Order of the Barefoot Carmelites, who settled in Oaxaca in 1696 and built the hermitage of La Santa Veracruz upon the site of the great Teocali (Temple) of Huaxyacac, where every July the prehispanic people celebrated the great Fiesta de los Señores in which a maiden was sacrificed to honor Centéotl, the Goddess of Corn and Agriculture.

The festivity has been Christianized and is the current fiesta of the Guelaguetza (also known as the Lunes del Cerro), which coincides with festivities honoring the Virgen del Carmen.

Around 1856 the convent was secularized and passed into the hands of the federal government; it then served as a jail and a cavalry barracks. The church has been restored and is open for public worship.

Currently, in what was the cloister, the offices of the State Civil Registry are installed. School centers and federal offices operate in its other annexes. The temple is distinguished, with respect to the other temples of Oaxaca (except of the Seven Princes), by its portico, whose function is to prepare the entrance to the main nave.

How to get:
The temple and former convent of Carmen Alto is located 6 blocks north of the Central Plaza (zócalo) of the capital city, on García Vigil street between Jesús Carranza and Quetzalcóatl.

Location map

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