The auditorium
Red-and-gold balconies.
Richie Diesterheft derivative work: MrPanyGoff — CC BY 2.0 · MadriCR — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Mariordo ((Mario Roberto Durán Ortiz) — CC BY-SA 4.0 · self - User:ravedave — CC BY 2.5
San José's most beautiful building, a grand neoclassical theatre that opened on 21 October 1897 with a performance of «Faust», funded by a tax on coffee exports when coffee was the country's wealth, so it became a symbol of that golden cultural age. Its stone façade is crowned by allegorical statues of Dance, Music and Fame. Inside are a marble staircase, gilded columns and mouldings, painted ceilings and an auditorium for about 1,140 people with red-and-gold wooden balconies. Its best-known painting is the mural «Allegory of Coffee and Bananas», showing the harvest of the two crops the economy rested on, once printed on a banknote. You can visit on short guided tours outside performance times, or see a concert or ballet. The foyer holds an elegant café where visitors sit among the decoration and paintings. The theatre faces the Plaza de la Cultura, under which lies the Gold Museum. San José has petty theft in crowded places, so watch your belongings and use registered taxis at night.
Red-and-gold balconies.
An economic symbol.
Amid the decor.
Plaza Juan Mora Fernández, central San José
Pre-Columbian Gold MuseumA modern museum in underground halls below the Plaza de la Cultura, owned by the1 minute walk4.4
Central MarketA covered market founded in 1880, one of Costa Rica's oldest and liveliest, its 7 minutes walk4.3
National Museum in the Bellavista BarracksA yellow fortress with round towers and battlements on a hill in central San Jos7 minutes walk4.8Yes, on short guided tours outside performance times, and the foyer café is open to visitors.