This World Heritage property, located in the central valleys of Oaxaca, in the depression formed between the Sierra Madre Oriental and the Sierra Madre del Sur, is composed of two distinct cultural sites: the historic centre of Oaxaca de Juarez (a good example of Spanish colonial town planning) and the pre-Columbian archaeological site of Monte Albán, consisting of terraces, dams, canals, pyramids and artificial mounds carved out of the mountain, the symbols of a sacred topography. Inhabited over a period of 1,500 years by a succession of peoples (Olmecs, Zapotecs and Mixtecs), the site is known for its unique dimensions which exhibit the basic chronology and artistic style of the region and for the remains of magnificent temples, ball court, tombs and bas-reliefs with hieroglyphic inscriptions.
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