Located about 11km south of Oaxaca, the small village of San Bartolo Coyotepec is notable not only for the colourfully painted church, but also the barro negro, the famous black and light pottery polishes. These are the ones you find around Oaxaca, which include candlestick holders, jugs and vases, decorative animals and bird figures, in hundreds of shapes and forms. If you want to go to the source of where all these come from, try to find the Alfarería Dona Rosa, which is located very near the highway.

Sightseeing
There are many families in the village who make and sell the barro negro, but the method of burnishing the barro negro with quartz stones for the beautiful shine was discovered by Rosa Real Mateo, who died in 1980. Her family's alfareria was the biggest in the village, and nowadays you can see the demonstrations of the process several times a day, in the tours. The process is long and it involves many traditional things like the potter wheel, pit kilns, and so on.