Sunday market in Teotitlán del Valle

Over the course of the Discover Oaxaca tour and Día de Muertos tour, we spend a Sunday in Teotitlán del Valle, a Zapotec village in Valles Centrales. There, we walk through the market and get to see their colors: in their food, the way they dress and what they offer and sell at the mercado. We get to eat and taste different types of bread like conchas, hojaldras and pan de cazuela, as well as their famous tamales de mole amarillo.

Teotitlán del Valle is a Zapotec village also know for its rug weaving artisans and candle makers that craft intricate flowers by hand made out of beeswax. They are known for their deep Zapotec roots and pride on preserving their traditions, so much so, that their first language is Zapotec and their second language is Spanish.

We arrive early in the morning and our first stop is the bread section. The conchas here are shaped smaller and some are made with butter instead of lard.

The very famous pan de cazuela which comes from the village next door but also baked here, is baked in a clay dish and chocolate folded into the dough swirled inside and finished with a little anise seed. Incredibly tasty. We try the hojaldras (a bread commonly found in many villages around Oaxaca) that are sprinkled with sesame seeds sugar and red food coloring sugar. This symbolises the blood of Christ, usually dipped in hot chocolate, atole or champurrado. Here they make them really tall and hollow inside, given its unique taste and form, all baked in a wood-fired oven.

Our next stop, the tamales!

Contrary to banana leaf, here they are wrapped in corn leaf, also the dough they use is very smooth like the tortilla dough. The dough is spread on the leaf and then mole amarillo with chicken is placed in the middle, it is then wrapped and steamed like a regular tamal (I owe you a photo of these).

The beautiful and distinct aprons worn in all these villages makes our next stop. These aprons are full of color and the designs are specific to their ethnic group. Not only are they worn in the utilitarian sense (to keep one’s clothes clean when cooking) but they are also part of their daily wear and to be displayed with pride, especially on Sunday. Almost all women are using them, be it vendors or market goers. The embroidered motifs are flower patterns and these are made in Tlacolula.

A final walk-through and close-up look at all the fresh produce: many criollo ingredients from potatoes, criollo tomatoes, miltomates, chiles and of course a huge variety of different color maíz and its corn leaves.

We always see the different flowers they grow in the village and many other villages nearby. After July you can start seeing a huge amount of marigolds, cockscomb and many other flowers as we make way to Día de Muertos.

Come explore the unique market at Teotitlán del Valle, preserving years of tradition and celebrating the diversity found in Valles Centrales, Oaxaca.

Discover Oaxaca
October 9th-15th, 2025
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December 8th-14th, 2025
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We are pleased to organize private tours to this market and other activities around Valles Centrales, from visiting artisans studios to eating the delicacies of this wonderful region.
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