Hi there,
On our last day in San José, we wanted to make a short visit in the morning and then rest in the afternoon, since the next day we were going to Mexico City.
We thought about going to see the Poás volcano or the Irazú volcano, but the trekking was only 15 minutes along a cement road; just what I don’t like. After having been to the El Chato volcano and doing that wonderful hike, we were not going to spend a lot of hours on the bus and pay $15 to see the crater from a viewpoint.
So, we ruled out both options. In addition, the Poás volcano had just erupted and was closed.
We decided to go to Cartago since it is a nearby town and the bus left from the center.
Cartago is next to San José, but the landscape totally changes. Unlike San José, which is a horrible city, Cartago is surrounded by mountains and is a bit prettier. Also, there is much less traffic.
The Ruins of Cartago, the name given to the remains of the unfinished parish church of Santiago Apóstol, are in the Plaza Mayor. They are made up of the walls and stairways of a Romanesque-style temple, whose construction began in the second half of the 19th century and was not completed due to the Santa Monica earthquake (May 4, 1910). They are not ruins, although they are called that, but a church that was never finished.
In addition, we visited the Basilica of Our Lady of the Angels, which is a Catholic temple. It is in the place where, according to tradition, the mulatto Juana Pereira, from the marginal neighborhood known as Puebla de los Pardos, found in 1635 an image of Our Lady of the Angels, to which numerous miracles were soon attributed.
A hermitage was built on the site and later other increasingly larger temples. It was made a basilica in 1675.
The earthquake of May 4, 1910 ruined the temple, which was replaced two years later by one of greater magnitude and of Byzantine style.
Then we caught another bus to go to the Orosí viewpoint, whose entrance is free. It is a well-kept place where there is plenty of space to relax. It is crowded by locals on the weekend as it is a cheap option.
Cartago and Orosí are two destinations relatively close to San José and can be visited if you have time. When we were planning our trip to Costa Rica, we were struck by the fact that San José was not recommended anywhere. With good reason, it’s not even worth doing one night because it’s ugly and there’s nothing interesting about it. In the same way, Cartago and Orosí are not places that will change your life, so you can avoid them.
Here is the link to my YouTube video: