Convento de San Jose (Oaxaca), Oaxaca, Mexico

While wandering around the city of Oaxaca, I accidently walked into a building that probably was supposed to have been closed. In fact, it was empty due to the Christmas holidays, but I think someone forgot to lock the door. Little ole me saw this cool looking building, tried the door, found it unlocked, and determined that it must be okay to take a look. As I explored, I wondered more and more…where was everybody? It was dead quiet. I couldn’t quite figure out what this place was – it was a colonial building that seemed vaguely religious but it was also defaced (so I thought at the time) by graffiti. I explored for a bit and took a bunch of photos because the place appealed to me despite not knowing where I was. It was only after I got back to Canada and did some research that I finally figured out that the building in which I wandered was the ex-Convento de San José.

This convent was founded in 1595 by Jesuits but has a history of re-building because of earthquakes. The current building that I visited was built in the early 1700s. The original occupants of the convent were nuns from the Capuchin order so they were called Capuchinas – I wonder if they have any relation to the coffee? Anyway, in 1893, the convent was turned into an asylum for orphans and the elderly. Today, it is an art school! La Escuela de Bellas Artes (School of Fine Arts) has been run by the Benito Juarez Autonomous University of Oaxaca since 1950. Which explains the graffiti artwork all over the place. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).