Tourist Attraction in San José:
Museo Nacional de Costa Rica
The Museo Nacional de Costa Rica, located in the capital San José. It is located on Calle 17, between Avenida Central and Avenida Segunda, Cuesta de Moras, in the Bellavista Fortress, a crenellated ocher building facing the Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica. The fortress was built in 1917 as a military structure . The outer walls still have many projectiles embedded in them during the civil war of 1948. It became the site of the museum in 1950. The entrance, located on the eastern side, leads to a courtyard where pre-Columbian artifacts and cannons from the colonial period are exhibited. . The museum is thematically organized with a path that develops counterclockwise from the entrance. Then, in succession, materials relating to the geological, colonial, archaeological, religious and modern history of Costa Rica are encountered. In the northeastern tower, the museum has a remarkable collection of pre-Columbian stone tables (metate), ceramics and a "Sala de Oro" "(gold room). The colonial hall has a remarkable collection of furniture and is structured to represent the typical 18th century apartments. The museum also includes an exhibition on the 1987 Nobel Peace Prize Óscar Arias and a bust of José Figueres, as well as a butterfly garden in the exterior "Plaza de la Democracia"