Sedona has a hand-built Mexican village tucked behind sycamore trees on a creek

Sedona’s secret world behind the sycamores

You could drive right past it on State Route 179 and never know it was there.

Vine-covered walls, arched entryways, cobblestone paths, and courtyard fountains tucked behind giant sycamore trees, all of it on the banks of Oak Creek in Sedona.

Tlaquepaque Arts and Crafts Village, pronounced “T-la-keh-pah-keh,” takes its name from a city near Guadalajara. In Nahuatl, the word means “the best of everything.”

The place takes that seriously.

A Nevada developer’s two-year promise to save some trees

It started with a man who couldn’t stop thinking about a piece of land.

In the early 1970s, Nevada real estate developer Abe Miller kept coming back to Sedona and kept coming back to the same creekside property, shaded by sycamore trees and sitting at the edge of Oak Creek.

The problem was the owners, Harry and Ruby Girard, wouldn’t sell. They were afraid construction would take out the trees.

Miller spent two years making one promise: every sycamore stays. They finally said yes.

Built by eye, not by blueprint

Miller brought in architect Bob McIntyre, and the two of them drove through Mexico with cameras, sketchbooks, and a clear idea of what they were after.

They studied how Spanish Colonial plazas worked, how courtyards pulled people in, how villages grew around natural gathering spaces.

Then they shipped it all back to Arizona, truckloads of wrought iron grillwork, carved wooden doors, handmade lanterns, clay pots, and stone benches.

Construction ran from 1971 to 1978, and almost none of it was drawn on paper.

The plasterers who worked by feel, not by rule

McIntyre made a deliberate choice when he staffed the project. He hired amateur artisans and self-trained plasterers, not professional stonemasons.

Workers had the freedom to tear down a full day’s work and start fresh if something didn’t look right. Measurements were done by eye.

Buildings went up around the existing sycamores, with branches growing through rooftops and reaching into rooms. The result looks like something that grew slowly over centuries, not something built in seven years.

More than 50 galleries where artists work in front of you

Walk through the village today and you’ll pass more than 50 specialty shops and galleries.

Bronze sculpture, blown glass, fine art paintings, ceramics, weavings, large-format photography, and contemporary jewelry fill the spaces. What makes it different from a shopping center is what’s happening inside.

Sculptors, painters, and jewelry makers work right there in the galleries throughout the day.

Creative Gateways, one of the first three shops to open in 1973, has represented some of the country’s most prominent glass artists for more than five decades.

Come on a Friday evening and meet the artists yourself

If you time your visit right, you can catch First Friday in the Galleries, a free evening event held on the first Friday of every month from 4 to 7 p.m. Galleries host artist receptions and special exhibits, and the whole village takes on a different feel after the afternoon crowd thins out.

Mountain Trails Gallery often has Western and wildlife artists working on-site, and Navarro Gallery showcases the bronze work of sculptor Chris Navarro, who has spent more than 20 years on Western and wildlife pieces.

The chapel Miller loved most of all

Of everything Abe Miller built, the chapel was his favorite.

Modeled after a small Mexican mission, it went up in the early 1970s with stained glass windows, hand-carved leather-covered pews, whitewash stucco walls, and giant antique wooden doors.

Miller commissioned Arizona artist Eileen Conn to paint a nearly 12-foot-square oil painting for the altar, with portraits of saints. Then Miller and his wife painted the gold leaf frame around it themselves.

In May 2024, the Sedona Historic Preservation Commission designated the chapel a local historic landmark.

A grotto from Guadalajara and a cross from Miller’s travels

Step into the chapel courtyard and you’ll find two things Miller collected on his trips through Mexico.

A grotto of the Lady of Guadalupe, transported from Guadalajara, sits in the courtyard alongside an antique Mexican cross he found during his travels. Neither one was placed there for show.

Miller brought them back because they belonged to the world he was trying to build, and the courtyard around them reflects exactly that, quiet, shaded, and finished down to the last detail.

Spring fiestas, September celebrations, and a free trolley

The village doesn’t go quiet between gallery visits.

Each spring, a Cinco de Mayo fiesta takes over the grounds with mariachi musicians, Folklorico dancers, and traditional Mexican food. Admission is free, and a free trolley runs from the Sedona municipal parking lot.

Come September and the Fiesta de Tlaquepaque celebrates Mexican Independence Day with the same spirit.

Both events are rooted in the same heritage that shaped the village from the start, and they draw people who’ve been coming back for years.

Dia de los Muertos fills the courtyards every fall

Every fall, Tlaquepaque hosts a multi-day Dia de los Muertos celebration that takes over the entire village.

Large-scale installations and altars fill the courtyards and walkways, honoring Mexico’s Day of the Dead tradition.

You can remember someone through the displays, watch live performances, try sugar skull decorating, or just walk through and take it in. Music and dance run throughout the event.

It’s free to attend, and the installations use the village’s architecture in ways that make the whole thing feel like it was designed for exactly this.

Six thousand lights at dusk, every December

For nearly five decades, the Festival of Lights has drawn people to Tlaquepaque on a December evening.

At dusk, 6,000 luminarias go up across the courtyards and walkways, and the whole village shifts into something different. Holiday music, entertainment, and a visit from Santa Claus round out the night.

Special luminarias honoring cancer survivors are available to purchase, with proceeds going to the American Cancer Society.

Later in December, a separate event brings carolers in period costumes, holiday decorations, and discounts at the shops.

The building that was too good to tear down

During construction, Miller put up a test structure where workers tried out molded concrete, ironwork, and arched entryways before committing to a design.

The plan was to demolish it when the rest of the village was done.

But by the time construction finished, the building had too much character and too much work behind it. Miller kept it.

It became El Rincon Restaurante Mexicano, which has been a Sedona institution for more than three decades, serving traditional Mexican food in the room where the village’s whole architectural language was invented.

Visit Tlaquepaque Arts and Crafts Village in Sedona, Arizona

You can walk into Tlaquepaque for free, any day of the week. The village sits at 336 State Route 179 in Sedona, right where the road crosses Oak Creek.

Shops are generally open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays and until 6 p.m. on weekends. The village is pet-friendly, and Sedona’s red rock formations are visible right from the grounds.

Check the event calendar on the official website before you go, especially if you’re hoping to catch one of the seasonal festivals or a First Friday gallery night.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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