Oaxaca: Santiago Ixtaltepec

One of the more unusual stops on our Mixteca trip was at Santiago Ixtaltepec, a remote village located more than hour east of Yanhuitlan on a camino blanco from Nochistlan.

Although in a Dominican dominated region, the appearance of this rural chapel, with its plain arched doorway of orange sandstone surmounted by an alfiz studded with pearl reliefs, owes more to Franciscan architectural tradition.
While the rosettes around the archway might indicate a Dominican presence, the arrangement is closer in style to many early Franciscan monasteries.

There is no image of the patron saint Santiago in the church, although there is an expressive old crucifix by the apse.

images © IOHIO

The painted table organ in the adjacent, newly opened museum of musical instruments is the only one of its kind in Oaxaca to survive with pipes, although not all of them appear original. The table on which it rests is painted to match the organ decoration, as are the bellows.

text ©2014  Richard D. Perry. Photography by the author and IOHIO