San Pablo Villa de Mitla

San Pablo Villa de Mitla Mitla
Town & Municipality
Church of San Pablo in Mitla
San Pablo Villa de Mitla Location in Mexico
Coordinates: 16°55′15″N 96°21′42″W / 16.92083°N 96.36167°W / 16.92083; -96.36167
Country	Mexico
State	Oaxaca
Government
• Municipal President	Jaciel García Ruiz (2008-2010)
Area
• Municipality	82.93 km2 (32.02 sq mi)
Elevation (of seat)	1,680 m (5,510 ft)
Population  (2005) Municipality
• Municipality	11,219
• Seat	7,829
Time zone	UTC-6 (Central (US Central))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (Central)
Website	(in Spanish) site[permanent dead link]

San Pablo Villa de Mitla is a town and municipality in Mexico which is most famous for being the site of the Mitla archeological ruins. It is part of the Tlacolula District in the east of the Valles Centrales Region. The town is also known for its handcrafted textiles, especially embroidered pieces and mezcal.^[1] The town also contains a museum which was closed without explanation in 1995, since when its entire collection of Zapotec and Mixtec cultural items has disappeared.^[2] The name “San Pablo” is in honor of Saint Paul, and “Mitla” is a hispanization of the Nahuatl name “Mictlán.” This is the name the Aztecs gave the old pre-Hispanic city before the Spanish arrived and means “land of the dead.” It is located in the Central Valleys regions of Oaxaca, 46 km from the city of Oaxaca, in the District of Tlacolula.^[1]