Arrazola

Arrazola, a few miles farther north from Cuilapan de Guerrero [1], toward Oaxaca City [2], is one of the sources (along with Tilcajete [3]) of the intricately painted alebrijes (ah-lay-BREE-hays)—fanciful wooden creatures that decorate the shelves of handicrafts shops all over Mexico and foreign countries.

Although you should visit a number of family workshops along the street, be sure to visit Pepe Santiago and his Santa’s workshop of craftspersons (10 a.m.–6 p.m. daily). Inside the Santiago compound (on the right, just below the hilltop), men and boys saw and carve away while a cadre of young women and girls painstakingly add riots of painted brocade to everything from whimsical dragons and gargoyles to armadillos, giraffes, and rabbits

Getting There

Bus travelers, get there either by second-class bus or by tourist bus from Oaxaca City. Drivers, turn west (left) onto signed Highway 145 a few miles north of Cuilapan [1] or, traveling south, 3.2 miles (5.1 km) south of the Río Atoyac bridge in Oaxaca City. Pass through San Javier village and continue from the turnoff a total of three miles (five km) to the Arrazola town plaza.

Turn right immediately before the plaza onto Calle E. Zapata and turn left after one block, at Independencia. After one more block you will be at Calle Obregón, where everyone seems to be making alebrijes. .