San Juan Bautista Coixtlahuaca is a small town and municipality located in the Mixteca Region

Mixteca Region, Oaxaca

The Mixteca Region is a region in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico, part of the broader La Mixteca area which covers parts of the states of Puebla, Guerrero and Oaxaca....

 of the State of Oaxaca

Oaxaca

Oaxaca , , officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca is one of the 31 states which, along with the Federal District, comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided into 571 municipalities; of which 418 are governed by the system of customs and traditions...

, Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

, and the center of the Coixtlahuaca district

Coixtlahuaca District, Oaxaca

Coixtlahuaca District is located in the northeast of the Mixteca Region of the State of Oaxaca, Mexico. As of 2005 the population was 9,018, down 2.8% from 2000.The region is generally from 2,000m to 3,000m high, mostly hilly or mountainous with small plains....

. The name, “Coixtlahuaca” means ‘plain of snakes’ in the Nahuatl language.

Town

The town was founded by the Chocholtecs in 37 AD. Their last emperor was Atonaltzin, who fought against the Mexica

Mexica

The Mexica were a pre-Columbian people of central Mexico.Mexica may also refer to:*Mexica , a board game designed by Wolfgang Kramer and Michael Kiesling*Mexica , a 2005 novel by Norman Spinrad...

s. Two times he was defeated, the second and last time by Moctezuma II

Moctezuma II

Moctezuma , also known by a number of variant spellings including Montezuma, Moteuczoma, Motecuhzoma and referred to in full by early Nahuatl texts as Motecuhzoma Xocoyotzin, was the ninth tlatoani or ruler of Tenochtitlan, reigning from 1502 to 1520...

, who conquered much of this area.

It is located in the northeast part of the state of Oaxaca, 2,100 meters above sea level near the Cuacnopalan-Oaxaca

Oaxaca, Oaxaca

The city and municipality of Oaxaca de Juárez, or simply Oaxaca, is the capital and largest city of the Mexican state of the same name . It is located in the Centro District in the Central Valleys region of the state, in the foothills of the Sierra Madre at the base of the Cerro del Fortín...

 highway.
Its main attraction is the Iglesia de San Juan Bautista (Church of Saint John the Baptist). Completed in 1576, it is of Renaissance style with rose window

Rose window

A Rose window is often used as a generic term applied to a circular window, but is especially used for those found in churches of the Gothic architectural style and being divided into segments by stone mullions and tracery...

s, sculptures, and a main entrance with dozens of recesses. It also has a Baroque

Baroque

The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...

-style altarpiece

Altarpiece

An altarpiece is a picture or relief representing a religious subject and suspended in a frame behind the altar of a church. The altarpiece is often made up of two or more separate panels created using a technique known as panel painting. It is then called a diptych, triptych or polyptych for two,...

(retablo).

Municipality

As municipal seat, San Juan Bautista Coixtlahuaca has governing jurisdiction over the following communities:

Barrio de Magdalena, Boca de Perro, Carrizal, Cerro de Agua (Tercera Sección), Cerro el Águila, Cuesta Blanca, El Cachuche, El Capulín (Sección Primera), El Guajolote, El Portezuelo, El Sotol, El Tepozán (Sección Segunda), El Zapato, El Zapotal (Sección Tercera), Estancia, Ixcate, Jazmín Río Poblano, La Ciénega, La Cruz, La Mulata, Laguna Seca, Narrege, Río Blanco, Río Poblano, San Jerónimo Otla, Santa Catarina Ocotlán, Sección Cuarta (Los Rodríguez), Tecamachalco, Tronco del Río and Zacate Amarillo