Day 10 - February 6, 2011

Cartago was founded in 1563 and was the capital of Costa Rica until 1823. Earthquakes are prevalent and in the early 20th Century they destroyed most old buildings.

We visited the Basílica de Nuestra Señora de los Angeles (Basilica of Our Lady of the Angels), which is dedicated to the patron saint of Costa Rica the Virgin de los Angeles. While the Basilica was partially destroyed by earthquakes it was restored.  

What is unique about this basilica is that it houses a Black Madona, Le Negrita or Reina de Cartago. From Frommer's website: "Legend has it that a peasant girl Juana Pereira stumbled upon the statue of La Negrita sitting atop a rock, while gathering wood. Juana took it home, but the next morning it was gone. She went back to the rock, and there it was again. This was repeated three times, until Juana took her find to a local priest. The priest took the statue to his church for safekeeping, but the next morning it was gone, only to be found sitting upon the same rock later that day. The priest eventually decided that the strange occurrences were a sign that the Virgin wanted a temple or shrine built to her upon the spot. And so work was begun on what would eventually become today's impressive basilica."

"Miraculous healing powers have been attributed to La Negrita, and, over the years, a parade of pilgrims have come to the shrine seeking cures for their illnesses and difficulties. August 2 is her patron saint's day. Each year, on this date, tens of thousands of Costa Ricans and foreign pilgrims walk to Cartago from San José and elsewhere in the country in devotion to this powerful statue."

A replica of the statue is in a visitors center on top of a rock.  The original statue is enclosed in an elaborate gold case and is found on the alter inside the basilica. People bring charms and representations of what they are praying for.  They are hopeful of a cure.  Some pilgrims demonstrate their piety by coming before the virgin on their hands and knees.  People also wash themselves with water from the rock where the statue was found.

Our next adventure was a beautiful bus ride up to the top of Irazu Volcano.  We had fantastic views of farms, cities in the valley and the mountains. This is why Costa Rica is called the Switzerland of Central America.

We arrived at the Irazu Volcano and my iphone altitude app said we were at 11,011 ft.  The vegetation was lush and the ash and volcano crater seemed like we were on the moon!

We were treated to more beautiful views on the way down from the volcano.  We had lunch at the 1910 Restaurant which was decorated with historic pictures of the huge 1910 earthquake.

Next we took a short tour in San Jose.  We visited the Gold Museum which houses indigenous art including pottery, jade and gold items.  The pre-Columbian people created many gold items using the amazing "Lost Wax Technique".  Both Bill and I could have used more time in this museum as it was so interesting.

These figures are a little over 1" tall

Our last stop for the tour was the National Theater.  Our Tauck tour group was the only one allowed in as it was Sunday.  The theater is a beautiful theater of European influence and is in use today.  For a while, government meetings were held in this venue.

This evening we attended our tour's Farewell Party.  Most of the people were leaving the next morning.  We certainly met some nice and fun people on this trip and wish them well in the future.  The excellent tour guides, Tim & Elise created a hilarious dialogue re-capping our trip.  Adios!

Elise & Tim