The Monte Albán Site Museum stands at the entrance to the archaeological zone above Oaxaca’s Central Valleys. Its carved stones, ceramic objects and interpretive displays give visitors a way to understand the city before walking among its plazas and monuments. The museum is a companion to the ruins, not a substitute for them: it explains the people, written records, trade and funerary customs behind the architecture.
Monte Albán was founded around 500 BCE and became a major Zapotec capital. Its builders transformed a mountaintop into a ceremonial and political center with terraces, pyramids, tombs and a broad main plaza. The city developed over many centuries, with later Mixtec use of the site. In 1987 UNESCO inscribed the archaeological site together with Oaxaca’s historic center as one World Heritage property. The museum interprets this ancient landscape; the modern museum building is not itself an ancient monument.