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Review & FAQ:
Museo Nacional de Costa Rica is located in San Jose, across the road from the country's Legislative Assembly, in the 1917 Bellavista Fortress. The fortress was used historically as military barracks, specifically during the Costa Rican civil war in 1948. Tourist guides like to point out the hundreds of bullet holes in the fortress walls. Before occupying its current location, the National Museum, which opened in 1887, was located in the Universidad de Santo Tomas. It was established with the goal to "deposit, classify, and study natural and artistic products." The museum’s mandate is research, education, and the protection of national cultural heritage. Among the most interesting and most popular exhibits is an exhibition of pre-Columbian art and artifacts that showcases the life and culture of country’s ancestors from 12,000 BC to 1500 AD and the arrival of the Spanish. Some of the most fascinating exhibits are a 2,500-year-old jade carving shaped like a seashell as well as arrow points, pendants, necklaces, and earrings.
Cuesta de Moras, San José, Costa Rica, Phone: +506 2211 5700
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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