Fodor's Expert Review Templo y Exconvento de Santo Domingo de Guzmán

Mixteca

This towering 16th-century structure and its adjoining monastery appear even larger because they sit on a hill overlooking the village. The massive wooden doors face away from the village's main square.

The church's sheer size is its most stunning feature; its vaulted ceiling soars to almost 82 feet. The gold-leaf retablo behind the main altar has five levels, each depicting various saints. Santo Domingo, of course, stands alone at the top. Some of the paintings on this retablo are by the Spanish master Andrés de la Concha. Don't miss the mudéjar (Moorish) designs in the wooden ceiling of the choir. The handsome 18th-century pipe organ was restored in 1998.

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Yanhuitlán, Oaxaca  69661, Mexico

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