San Jose
San Jose
Monday, February 25th, 2008At 1,149 meters above sea level, San José enjoys an average temperature of 24 degrees Celsius—an ideal climate for short trips to the Carmen, Catedral, Merced and Hospital districts. Here, visitors can admire the lovely architecture of several buildings that have been declared National Monuments of cultural, historical or architectural interest, including the Post and […]
Post Office Building
Wednesday, February 20th, 2008Of reinforced concrete, an eclectic style, notably of French influence, the Post Office and Telegraph was built between the years 1914-1917, based on architect Luis Llach’s design. It’s an elegant and monumental work, with beautiful corner towers, the main entrance with coupling fringes. Presently, besides the post office, it houses a Philatelic Museum that […]
Metropolitan Cathedral
Wednesday, February 20th, 2008At the end of the eighteenth century, the hermitage of San José de la Boca del Monte – name given to the capital at the time – was moved to the place where the Cathedral is located today. Of sun-dried brick and straw roof in the beginning, it was rebuilt as a stone church, […]
National Theater
Wednesday, February 20th, 2008Representing the European aspirations of the liberal coffee-growing society, the National Theater was built by the end of the nineteenth century, with a strong tax on coffee production. The monumental architecture, painting and sculpture works of famous artists, mainly Italian. The taste and refinement in all finishes of this national jewel, which stand in […]
Pre-Columbian Gold Museum
Wednesday, February 20th, 2008The Central Bank of Costa Rica offers two important museums, to those visiting the Culture Plaza, at the center of the capital city: the pre-Columbian Gold “Alvaro Vargas Echeverría”, which exhibits a significant collection of gold objects, manufactured between 500 B.C. and the arrival of the Spaniards in the sixteenth century, and the Coin […]
Music Shrine
Wednesday, February 20th, 2008By the end of the nineteenth century Morazán Park was the heart of the city’s social and political life; for decades, parties celebrating the New Year, took place there, until they moved to González Víquez Plaza in 1930. A very traditional activity was the “greeting” that “josefinos” performed for New Year’s eve, as well as […]
Metallic Building
Wednesday, February 20th, 2008The Metallic Building is a symbol of public education, supported by the liberal Costa Rican state by the end of the nineteenth century. Just as the Morazán Park, it was built over a dried and filled swamp, by means of a contract signed with a Belgian manufacturing company, of iron material, which was brought in […]
Yellow House (Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cult)
Wednesday, February 20th, 2008In the year 1912, Andrew Carnegie donated funds to build the headquarters for the Central American Court of Justice in the city of San José. Works were ended by 1916. The new building has an ornamented lintel in its façade, of baroque influence. In 1919, when the court was dissolved, the building came to […]
Museum of Contemporary Art and Design
Wednesday, February 20th, 2008Located in the former rums’ factory of the National Liquors Factory, it’s noted by its walls made of boulders, nearly one meter thick, and cedar timber work. Has six show rooms, where permanent and temporary collections are displayed. It also offers innovative proposals of contemporary art and design, a library, video collection, special movies’ projections, […]
Jade Museum
Wednesday, February 20th, 2008This museum groups a series of important archaeological pieces, of pre-Columbian ages. Its purpose is to protect, conserve and divulge the Costa Rican indigenous heritage. There you may appreciate polychromic pottery, gold works, and jade pieces, of the Mesoamerican area, and mainly of certain regions of Costa Rica, among which Guanacaste and Nicoya (Northern […]