Historic Centre of Oaxaca — La Matlacihua and the phantom nuns of the World Heritage city

The Historic Centre of Oaxaca, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Oaxaca City, is rich with supernatural legends that reflect the city's layered Zapotec, Mixtec, and Spanish colonial history. The most prominent legend involves La Matlacihua, a spectral woman who appears to men walking alone at night. She is described as extraordinarily beautiful from behind, but when she turns to face her victim, she reveals the face of a skull or a decaying corpse. The encounter is said to drive men mad or cause their death. La Matlacihua is related to the broader Mesoamerican tradition of shape-shifting female spirits, with roots in Aztec mythology. Beyond La Matlacihua, the historic centre's colonial churches, convents, and plazas generate their own ghost stories. The former Convent of Santa Catalina (now a luxury hotel) is said to be haunted by nuns who were walled up alive for breaking their vows. The Templo de Santo Domingo, one of the most ornate Baroque churches in the Americas, produces reports of phantom Gregorian chanting at night. Oaxaca's vibrant Día de los Muertos celebrations, among the most elaborate in Mexico, reflect the city's deep and comfortable relationship with death — a relationship that makes ghost stories feel less like horror and more like ongoing conversation with the departed.