Where to Shop in Valladolid, Where Mexico's Traditional Crafts Take Center Stage

"Frailes Atelier takes its name from its position on one of Valladolid's main shopping streets, the pretty, cobblestoned Calzada de los Frailes. To call it a candle shop would be underselling it-it feels more like an art gallery, with candlesticks taking the form of long-stem roses and twisted architectural shapes, all crafted in the city from 100 percent beeswax. The space, set out around a central table like the dining room of a private home, is warm and informal."

"Valladolid has several outdoor markets that pop up on certain days selling fruit or flowers, but the Mercado de Artesanías is a permanent arcaded square across the road from the central plaza. Here local sellers stock Yucatán huipiles (white tunic dresses with colorful floral embroidery), fustanes (white lace skirts, often worn beneath a huipil), and jubones (squares of ornately embroidered fabric worn like a poncho). Shops also sell alebrijes (mythical animal sculptures, a typical Mexican folk art), talavera pottery (hand-painted colorful ceramics),"

Frailes Atelier on the cobblestoned Calzada de los Frailes produces 100 percent beeswax candlesticks shaped like long-stem roses and twisted architectural forms, arranged around a central table in a warm, informal space with original checkerboard tile. The Mercado de Artesanías, a permanent arcaded square near the central plaza, stocks Yucatán huipiles, fustanes, jubones, alebrijes and talavera pottery. Conesencia curates handcrafted homewares—carved wooden spoons, woven palm baskets, straw hats and varied pottery—while Kuxtal showcases arte popular such as colorful crucifixes, skull-painted mezcal cups and tin-trimmed mirrors. Wabi Gelato offers rotating house-made gelato flavors and sorbets by the main plaza.

Read at Conde Nast Traveler