Ocotlan de Morelos and San Antonino Castillo Velasco

Ocotlan de Morelos

This is the largest town in the southern valley and was once the home of Maestro Rodolfo Morales, the great painter who recently passed away in 2001. Through his own foundation, La Fundación Rodolfo Morales, Maestro Morales restored the XVI Century convent and church, and initiated a computer centre in his home that offers free lessons to school children. Worth visiting are; his home to see a collection of his art work, the convent where he displays a small folk art and colonial exhibition, and the town hall where the Maestro painted an outstanding mural.

The Ex-convent of Santo Domingo in Ocotlan is the main religious building in this southwestern valley and the largest of all from the late XVI century. Restored entirely by the Late Benefactor Rodolfo Morales, it now has an extraordinary facade flanked by tall cypress trees and beautiful gardens. Next to it, the convent is now a Museum where a retrospective of the work of Maestro Morales can be visited as well as some of the restored oil painting from the building.

Also worth visiting are the home-studios of fine cutlery knifes by the Aguilar Brothers who recycle car springs and railroad tracks to make blades and water faucets, using bone and wood for handles, made in such an artistic manner that they have become very famous. Clay is also crafted in Ocotlan by the renowned Aguilar Sisters (not related), who make colorful and whimsical clay representations of everyday scenes, flower vendors, skeletons, nativity sets and some of the most finely decorated pottery in Oaxaca.