The central province of San Jose, Costa Rica is home to the country’s capital city of the same name situated on the north-easternmost section of the province.
It has 20 cantons that include San Jose, where the capital and provincial city lies, Acosta, Alajuelita, Aserrí, Curridabat, Desamparadoes, Dota, Escazu, Goicoechea, León Cortés, Pérez Zeledón, Puriscal, Mora, Moravia, Montes de Oca, Santa Ana, Tarrazú, Tibás, Turrubares, , and Vázquez de Coronado. The province covers a total land area of 4,966 sq.km (1,917 sqm) with a population of more than 1.4 million as of 2011, the largest among Costa Rica’s provinces.
The province rests on the Central Valley regions and is bordered by Alajuela and Heredia to the north, Limon to the southwest, Cartago to the east, and Puntarenas to the west and south. San Jose has varied climes as its geography extends from the valley’s sea-level plains at various places contiguous with the eastern Pacific shores of its adjacent province Puntarenas all the way to the Mt. Chirripo, considered the country’s highest peak at around 3,820 meters high. A small region down the wet eastern slopes of Central Cordillera that is part of the Braulio Carrillo National Park gives it the precipitation experienced in other regions of the country. In general, most of the regions that lie in the 700-1300 meters altitude experience mild tropical Caribbean clime at 17°C to 30°C with a dry season from November to May and a rainy season for the rest of the months.
The early colonial years from 1560 onwards saw Spanish and European families migrating west of Cartago to the Central Valley, starting with Aserri, the first colonial settlement south of the capital city. In 1736, the Spanish colonial masters forced Aserri settlers to move to the “Boca del Monte” parish where a church dedicated to Saint Joseph was erected and completed in 1738 and is now across the street fronting the east side of the nation’s Central Bank. The parish was named “San José de la Boca del Monte” or San Jose for short. By 1824, San José residents had reached in excess of 15,000 a year after it had become the seat of government for the newly independent state.
Costa Rica’s tourism has been the country’s highest dollar earner since 1995 after a tourism boom in 1998 with 329,000 visitors reaching 2.34 million by 2012, and contributing more than 21% in foreign exchange receipts. San Jose figures prominently in the nation’s tourism industry with the capital city of San Jose serving not just its seat of government and commerce but also as a bustling cosmopolitan tourist destination considered the 6th most important in Latin America, according to the 2012 MasterCard Global Destinations Index.
Take a ride in an open convertible along a 50-km stretch of the Cerro de la Muerte Pan American highway and savor the fresh highland air amidst the magnificent views of just about all the country’s exotic mountain flora and fauna like visiting Mount Chirripó, minus the effort. Then visit Dr. Skutch’s Farm or the Los Cusingos Neotropical Bird Sanctuary founded by Dr. Alexander Skutch back in 1941 and remains to this day as one of the few forested areas in a predominantly agricultural area in the San Isidro del General valley. Then there’s the 400-hectare El Rodeo Forest Reserve on the Central Valley’s southwestern corner with parts nestled inside the UN University of Peace campus. This is the place to be if you a bird watcher and butterfly enthusiast.
Starting with the capital city of San Jose, you can simply have a visual feast with its 19th century Spanish and European architectures especially when attending a gala performance at the National Theater of Costa Rica, the country’s architectural pride inaugurated in 1897. The city is also home to several public parks such as La Sabana Metropolitan Park, the city’s largest situated in the western region of Mata Redonda. The city’s only zoo is the Simon Bolivar, a sanctuary to several animal and plant species sourced locally and overseas. at night time you can have a great dinner in one of the restaurants I can recommend Billy Sazon in Rohrmoser San Jose, it great adult atmosphere.
Billy Sazon Restaurante en San Jose Costa Rica from Billy on Vimeo.
If you like snapshots of the country’s culture and history, the city is dotted with several museums like the Museum of Contemporary Art and Design, the National Museum of Costa Rica, the Museum of Costa Rican Art, and the Museum of Pre-Columbian Gold.
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