COSTA RICA NATIONAL MUSEUM

The military hasn't needed the building since 1950 because, you see, the country abolished its military in 1949 after the Costa Rica Civil War, click.

The museum has several permanent collections.

One, the pre-columbian collection takes visitors back to three distinct periods preceding the arrival of the Spanish in the early 1500s:

Hunters/Collectors c. 12,000 B.C. - 2,000 B.C

"Egalitarian" villagers c. 2,000-B.C. - 500 A.D.

Characteristics: small villages without a chief or other ruler

"Cacique" ruled villagers c. 500 A.D. - 1500 A.D.

Characteristics: villages ruled by chiefs ("caciques")

In its Pre-Columbian Room, you'll see ceramic, stone, jade, and bone objects, arrow points, bowls, metates (stone tables), burial items, necklaces, pendants, earrings, and other religious and personal artifacts of the earliest Costa Ricans.

Spaniards valued it so much that they came to the New World to plunder it from ancient races like the Mayans and Incans.

But, a thousand years before the Spanish soldiers arrived, gold had a spiritual, rather than material, value to people in what is now Costa Rica.

In its collection of Pre-Columbian gold, you'll see manifestations of what the ancient villagers considered important enough to put into gold: frogs, alligators, birds, and other creatures.

In its "Motherland" exhibit, you'll see drawings, photographs, and artifacts showing the development of Costa Rica from the days of Christopher Columbus to modern times.

There's also an exhibit called "Colonial home" which recreates the inside of colonial dwellings.

The Costa Rica National Museum has a courtyard containing mysterious Costa Rica Disquis Rocks, click, and old cannons.

And, of course, no museum would be complete without natural history exhibits.

So, whether you simply enjoy taking in museums during your travel or you're in San Jose killing time during a rainstorm, we recommend taking in the Costa Rica National Museum.

Tel. (506) 2257 - 1433

Address: 17th Street, between Central and 2nd avenue, San Jose

Admission fees:

Noresidents $7.00 (foreign students with valid ID $4.00)

Hours: Tuesdays to Saturdays, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Sundays 9:00am to 4:30pm

Closed on Mondays and holidays

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