Santa Maria del Tule
Oaxaca, Mexico.
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George & Eve DeLange

Arbol del Tule, Santa Maria del Tule, Oaxaca, Mexico. Santa Maria del Tule is a small town in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico with its famous Arbol del Tule (tree of Tule) in the chuchyard. It is located about 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) SE from the city of Oaxaca (on the way to Mitla), Highway 190, it is easily reached by bus or car. The mighty tree in Santa Maria del Tule, has a circumference of over 160 feet at its base, and is between 2000 and 3000 years old, making it one of the oldest living things on earth. Arbol del Tule is Mexico's most famous tree, and some say the world's largest single biomass. Not the tallest, the most biomass. The Tule tree and its environs comprise a unique natural monument, an attraction for locals and visitors alike. The Montezuma Cypress (Taxodium mucronatum), or Ahuehuete (meaning "deep water") in the ancient Nahuatl language, is Mexico's national tree. According to legend, Hernan Cortes cried beneath the boughs of a cypress after the Aztecs defeated the Spanish on La Noche Triste (The Sad Night). The town of Santa Maria del Tule takes its name from the famous tree and boasts not just one, but seven extremely large and ancient cypress trees. The largest tree dwarfs the town's church and is estimated to be more than 2,000 years old. It has a circumference of 54 meters (164 feet) -- the largest girth of any tree on the planet. Imagine... this tree was a sapling at the time when the civilization at Monte Alban was flourishing! This living ancient tree is still growing. Tt's weight is almost 550 tons, with 705 cubic meters of volume, & a diameter of 42 meters. This tree is often cited as having the largest trunk circumference in the world. Critics, for a long time thought, that it might actually represent the fused trunks of several different individuals. However, recent study of DNA samples from the tree using random amplified polymorphic DNA indicates that it is in fact a single individual (Dorado et al. 1996). So, it does have the largest trunk circumference in the world! This tree can be easily visited if you are traveling toward Mitla. It only takes about a half hour to visit and the entrance fee as of November 2012 is ten pesos ( less than $1.00 US ). Local residents celebrate the famous Tule Tree with a grande fiesta every October 7th. On the main plaza surrounding the tree is a circular market with regional crafts and an ATM machine. Travelers heading to Teotitlan and Santa Ana del Valle in need of cash, stop here for sure! Cash is much more convenient than credit cards when purchasing items from the local artisans and vendors.

The Xoxocotlán International airport (IATA: OAX, ICAO: MMOX) Is the international airport located at Oaxaca, Oaxaca, Mexico. It handles the national and international air traffic for the city of Oaxaca. We have links on this page that will connect you with flights into and out of the Xoxocotlán International airport and allow you to book any of several of the best hotels in Oaxaca. We suggest getting a hotel and then letting them arrange either a car or a tour of Oaxaca. If you call their Concierge Services ahead of your arrival, all of this can be pre-arranged for you. We do this all the time, when traveling in Mexico. It is safe and it works!!! We have never experienced a problem, doing it this way! We have placed links to Priceline.com on this page so you can arrange your flights into and out of Oaxaca; as well as your hotel, when visiting this area. We found that generally speaking, they provide the best hotel and air flight prices into Oaxaca.