Visit Monte Alban, pre-Columbian ruined city

The ancient Zapotec city of Monte Albán reclines across a picturesque mountain top, its low-set pyramids and plazas splayed out in front of superb valley views. At its height this major settlement was home to a highly sophisticated society of over 25,000 inhabitants.

The archaeological site is just a short drive away from Oaxaca. Its focal point, the Great Plaza, is a great place to begin the tour with the key structures all around you – these include altars, ceremonial platforms, step pyramids and the ball court, where sacrificial victims would be selected according to the result of the Mesoamerican ballgame. At the far north end, there are a number of tombs containing paintings and symbolic stone carvings.