 Costa Rica was primarily a thinly
populated and a backwater landscape during the pre-Columbian era,
which was also a period of evolution in the history of Costa Rica's
architecture. However, the more advanced civilizations of
Mesoamerica to the north and the Andes to the south had till then
already explored architectural know-how.
Ancient architecture
Costa Rica's prime archaeological site is situated at Guayabo, 30
miles east of San Jose', with antecedents dating back to 1000 BC.
Excavations of this site have unearthed many interesting gold, jade
and pottery, which are on display in several museums in San
Jose'.
When Columbus and other explorers visited Costa Rica on September
18, 1502, it was inhabited by approximately 20,000 tribals that
followed quaint customs and cultures. To the explorers, Costa Rica
was a hostile terrain, with tribal West Indians, swamps and
disease.
Administrative Start up
In 1562, the Spanish administrative center in Guatemala sent Juan
Vasquez de Coronado to Costa Rica as governor. Cartago was named as
the capital of Costa Rica. The European colonists started working
by setting up various administrative centers. They also started
tilling the land, owing to the dearth of native Red Indians. The
impoverished colony was gradually ignored by the Spanish rulers in
Guatemala, and at the onset of late 18th century, several European
settlements came into existence. The engendered export of wheat and
tobacco resulted in better economic conditions.
Costa Rica's Independence
The news of Central America's independence from Spain on September
15, 1821, reached Costa Rica. It resulted in squabbles and tiffs
among the leaders of San Jose and their counterparts in Cartago and
Heredia. The outcome was Spanish civil war in 1823 won by San Jose.
Then Costa Rica joined Central America's confederation.
In 1824, Juan Mora Fernandez was elected as the first head of
state. The setting up of an effective administration steered public
education and encouraged the cultivation of coffee. The government
rendered great subsidies to the farmers for this purpose. Gradually
and quickly, a new Costa Rican elite was established, as the
political coup by coffee juntas led to the overthrowing of the
first Costa Rican president, Jos‚ Maria Castro. However, it
was an efficient modeling and craftsmanship of Juan Rafael Mora,
who developed a force of Costa Rican volunteers and defeated
William Walker. Hence, this event jolted the North American
adventurer's ambitions to turn Central America into a colony and
seize it to the United States.
Further Developments
General Toms Guardia, a militia man, seized power in 1870, and
ruled for 12 years. His administrative policies engendered free and
compulsory primary education, restraining the excesses of the
military and taxing coffee earnings to finance public works. It was
due to his mammoth efforts and craftsmanship of Minor Keith that
led to the building up of Atlantic railroad from San Jose to the
Caribbean.
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