The city of Cartago, the ancient capital of Costa Rica and host of the first permanent international court of world history, the Court of Carthage, is located in the central region of Costa Rica. Geographically it is located at an altitude of 1435 meters above sea level, on the slopes of the Irazu volcano, 24 kilometers east of the capital, San Jose.
Gives its name to the province of Cartago, where is located, and his header region Cartago. The city center measured 4,13 square kilometers and is divided into the western districts, where located important shopping mall, banks, including the National Bank, Scotiabank, Bank of Costa Rica, the headquarters of the Agricultural Credit Bank Carthage or Bancrédito, BAC San Jose, BCT and the central offices of MUCAP. There is also located the beautiful Cathedral of Nuestra Señora del Carmen, the headquarters of the diocese of Carthage, whose patronage is offered to Santiago Apostle In the east districts are located most of the shops, the city council, the Ruins of Santiago Apostle, the Basilica de Nuestra Señora de los Angeles and the Instituto Tecnologico de Costa Rica, the second largest university in Costa Rica. The metropolitan area of the city has 295,560 inhabitants, which is composed of the regions of Cartago, Oreamuno, El Guarco and Paraiso.
The climate of Cartago is tropical but cold at the same time, and is modified by the height and the presence of the mountains. The climate of the city is very fresh and very different from the other cities in the greater metropolitan area. In general is known that Cartago has a cold weather in the city and sometimes is cloudy, for that reason Cartago is also known as the “City of Mist.”
In the city of Carthage is located the main religious center of Costa Rica, La Basilica de Los Angeles that is a beautiful Catholic church that lies at the place where, according to tradition, a mulatto of a village called Puebla de los Pardos found in 1635 a image of Nuestra Señora de Los Angeles, which will soon attributed numerous miracles. In the site was built a chapel, which was replaced later by a temple with higher solidity, strength and capacity, this temple was built in 1675. It was converted in the basilica during the episcopate of Bishop Anselmo Llorente y Lafuente.
The earthquake on May 4, 1910 almost destroyed the temple, which was replaced a few years later by another of considerable size, of Byzantine style. The temple Began to build in 1912. The architect in charge of design it was called Luis Llach Llagostera. Actually the Basilica de Nuestra Señora de Los Angeles is the main center of religious pilgrimage in Costa Rica, especially on the occasion of the feast day of Nuestra Señora de Los Angeles, which falls on Aug. 2.
Thousands of people come every year to the religious center in what is called a “romeria” in appreciation or request for favors. On that date, and in keeping with a tradition that dates from the late of eighteenth century, the image is transferred to the Cathedral of Cartage, located in the city center, where it remains until the beginning of the month of September, when the image is returned to the basilica, with a procession popularly known as the Pasada de Nuestra Señora de Los Angeles.
Cartago is one of the seven provinces of Costa Rica. It was found embedded in the Central Valley of the country, without access to the coast, bordered to the north and east to Limon and west and south by San Jose. Its capital city, Cartago was until 1823 the capital of Costa Rica, during the colonial period and the beginning of the republic.
Cartago is the second smallest province in the country, but it is also one of the richest in the colonial tradition, it was the capital of Costa Rica until 1823 as mentioned , when the designation of the capital was changed ro the city of San Jose. It is characterized by a humid tropical climate, with temperatures averaging between 12 and 20 Celsius degrees
Its mountainous terrain is formed by two mountain ranges: the Central, home of the Irazu volcano ( the highest in the country), and the Turrialba Volcano, and the Cordillera de Talamanca, which highlights the highest peak in Costa Rica, the Chirripo with 3819 meters above sea level.
Before the arrival of the Spaniards to the territory, the Indians Huetar lived in this area. In 1563 Juan Vasquez de Coronado transferred the town of Castillo de Garcimuñoz to Valle del Guarco, using for that purpose, the name of Santiago de Cartago. But later the governor Pedro Afán de Ribera y Gómez moved the city to the western sector of the Central Valley, and in 1574 Alonso Anguciana Gamboa establishes Cartago in its current location.
However, because the city is the most affected by earthquakes, caused especially by the Irazu Volcano, it was destroyed in 1656, 1718, 1756, 1822, 1841, and in 1910 during its reconstruction. In fact in the last two earthquakes, the 1841 and 1910 the city was about to be destroyed completely. For this fact is that there are no buildings older than 70 years in the area.
One of the most famous celebrations in the province of Cartago is the pilgrimage to the Basilica de Nuestra Señora de Los Angeles, which takes place on the eve of August 2 each year. According to legend, the image of the Virgin appeared to Juan Pereira, an Indian from the area, in 1635, several times, so it was decided to build a memorial temple in the same place.
There are also several interesting places in the city of Carthage, capital of the province, such as the Ruins of the old parish church dedicated to Santiago the Apostle, which was significantly damaged by the earthquake of Santa Monica, on May 4, 1910. It is located in the city center surrounded by a beautiful and interesting park. The people of Cartago are working hard to declare 100 blocks of the hull of the central city as a historical center, seeking to maintain the local identity, because right now most cities in the greater metropolitan area of Costa Rica have lost their identity by demolishing their old structures and building some unfortunate buildings. In the province of Cartago are located the interesting towns of Paraiso, Tres Rios, Turrialba and Pacaya. You can learn more about indigenous cultures by visiting the Guayabo National Monument, north of the city of Turrialba, that is one of the most important and larger archaeological areas that have been discovered in Costa Rica. This place is dedicated to protect archaeological structures such as roads, mounds, bridges, and water catchment tanks among others.
The Pacuare and Reventazón Rivers (ideals for lovers of rafting), Irazu and Turrialba Volcanoes and the Laguna del Cachi, are very good samples of what nature offers to those who visit Cartago. Both, the Irazu volcano as the Turrialba Volcano are inactive and are surrounded by beautiful forests and lakes that can be visited throughout the year. Both areas are an extremely important tourist attraction for both local and international tourism.
