Fodor's Expert Review Palacio de Gobierno

The 19th-century neoclassical state capitol is on the zócalo's south side. It hosts a Oaxacan history museum where you can see a variety of weird and wonderful objects relating to Oaxaca's past. A 1988 fresco by Arturo García Bustos wraps around the stairwell. In it, altars to the dead, painters of codices, fruit sellers, gods, and musicians crowd together to catalog the customs and legends of Oaxaca's indigenous people. At the top, on the left side of the mural, note the apoala tree, which, according to Mixtec legend, bore the flowers from which life sprang. If there's a protest in front of the building—and there occasionally is—it will be closed to visitors.