Gran Hotel (Costa Rica)

The 1,140-seat National Theatre of Costa Rica (Spanish: Teatro Nacional de Costa Rica) is Costa Rica's national theatre, located in the central section of San José. Construction began in 1891, and it opened to the public on 21 October 1897 with a performance of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust. The National Theatre stood as a cultural asset of the country during a time when coffee exports were a source of its success. It presents high quality performances, with artistic criteria being very high. The building is considered the finest historic building in the capital, and it is known for its exquisite interior which includes its lavish furnishings.

The Pre-Columbian Gold Museum (Spanish: Museo del Oro Precolombino, officially Spanish: Museo de Oro Precolombino Álvaro Vargas Echeverría) is a museum in San José, Costa Rica. It is located in a subterranean building underneath the "Plaza de la Cultura" and is owned and curated by the Banco Central de Costa Rica. The museum has an archaeological collection of 3,567 Pre-Columbian artifacts made up of 1,922 ceramic pieces, 1,586 gold objects, 46 stone objects, 4 jade, and 9 glass or bead objects. The gold collection dates from 300 to 400 BC to 1550 AD. The collection includes animal (notably frogs, eagles, jaguars, alligators, deers) figurines, amulets, earrings, erotic statuettes and several dioramas including El Guerrero, a life sized gold warrior figure adorned with gold ornaments in a glass case and a detailed scale model of a Pre-Columbian village. There is also a replica of a pre-Columbian grave containing 88 gold objects which was unearthed on a banana plantation in southeastern Costa Rica in the 1950s. In Costa Rican history, gold was considered a symbol of authority and the items are testament to the craftmanship of the Pre-Columbian period.The Museo Numismático (National Coin Museum) is also located in the same building on the ground level and features displays dating back to 1236, including coins, banknotes and unofficial items such as coffee tokens. The "Casa de Moneda" is also located on the ground level with information on the history of minting in Costa Rica and displays illustrating its development. The collection includes Costa Rica's first coin, the Media Escudo which was minted in 1825.

The Metropolitan Cathedral of San José Spanish: Catedral Metropolitana is a cathedral in San José, Costa Rica, located on Calle Central and Avenues 2 and 4. The original cathedral was built in 1802 but was destroyed by an earthquake.

The Archdiocese of San José de Costa Rica is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Costa Rica. A metropolitan see, there are seven suffragan dioceses in its ecclesiastical province: the Diocese of Alajuela, Cartago, Ciudad Quesada, Limón, Puntarenas, San Isidro de El General, and Tilarán. Erected on 28 February 1850, the Diocese of San José de Costa Rica was elevated to an archdiocese on 16 February 1921. It is the sole archdiocese in Costa Rica.

San José (Spanish: [saŋ xoˈse]; meaning "Saint Joseph") is the capital and largest city of Costa Rica, and the capital of the province of the same name. It is in the center of the country, in the mid-west of the Central Valley, within San José Canton. San José is Costa Rica's seat of national government, focal point of political and economic activity, and major transportation hub. San José Canton's population was 288,054 in 2011, and San José's municipal land area is 44.2 square kilometers (17.2 square miles), with an estimated 333,980 residents in 2015. Together with several other cantons of the central valley, including Alajuela, Heredia and Cartago, it forms the country's Greater Metropolitan Area, with an estimated population of over 2 million in 2017. The city is named in honor of Joseph of Nazareth. Founded in 1736 by order of Cabildo de León, the population of San José rose during the 18th century through the use of colonial planning. It has historically been a city of strategic importance, having been the capital of Costa Rica three times. More than a million people pass through it daily. It is home to the Museo Nacional de Costa Rica, the National Theatre of Costa Rica, and La Sabana Metropolitan Park. Juan Santamaría International Airport serves the city. San José is notable among Latin American cities for its high quality of life, security, level of globalization, environmental performance, public service, and recognized institutions. According to studies on Latin America, San José is one of the safest and least violent cities in the region. In 2006, the city was appointed Ibero-American Capital of Culture. According to The MasterCard Global Destinations Cities Index 2012, San José is the sixth-most visited destination in Latin America, ranking first in Central America. San José ranked 15th in the world's fastest-growing destination cities by visitor cross-border spending. It is considered a "Beta-" global city by GaWC. San José joined the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities in 2016.

The Edificio Herdocia is a four-story property located in San Jose, Costa Rica. It was built in 1945 by Catalan architect Luis Llach Llagostera. It is located on the corner of 2nd Street and Avenue 3 of the Central American capital, north of the Edificio Correos, with which it forms one of the most recognized architectural ensembles of the Josefino neighborhood. Its architectural style combines art deco with neoclassical. Considered to be of great beauty and historical value, was declared a Historical Architectural Heritage of Costa Rica in February 2000. Its name comes from Carmen Herdocia Rojas, who was its first owner.

Paseo de los Estudiantes ("Students Walkway" in English) is an urban area in San José, Costa Rica, the capital of Costa Rica. The area began to develop as a commercial center during the last decades of the twentieth century, basically with the advent of supermarkets, shops and some restaurants whose owners are Chinese.

San José Central Market (Spanish: Mercado central) is the largest market of the city of San José, Costa Rica. Established in 1880, it occupies an entire block on Avenida Central, 250m northwest of the Parque Central. The market contains a complex of narrow alleys with over 200 shops, stalls, and cheap restaurants called sodas. A huge range of meats, fish, fruits, vegetables, coffees, and other products are for sale including snakeskin boots and cowboy saddles, herbal remedies, flowers, cooked meals, souvenirs, and local handcrafts. Tens of thousands of people visit the market daily.Two blocks to the north is the Mercado Borbón, which specialises in food, with numerous butchers, fishmongers, and fruit vendors located there.

The Museo del Jade is an archaeological museum in San José, Costa Rica. Since 2014, it has been located in front of Plaza de la Democracia. It was founded in 1977 by Fidel Tristán Castro, the first president of the INS. The museum contains the world's largest collection of American jade.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship (Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores y Culto) is the ministry in charge of the foreign policy of Costa Rica, including the management of diplomatic missions around the world and their personnel. Its lead title holder is called the Chancellor (Canciller) of the country, a position currently held since January 2020 by Rodolfo Solano Quirós. There is a Vice Minister of Bilateral Affairs and International Cooperation (currently: Adriana Bolaños Argueta) and a Vice Minister for Multilateral Affairs (currently: Christian Guillermet-Fernández)

The Plaza de la Democracia, officially Plaza de la Democracia y de la Abolición del Ejército (English: "Plaza of Democracy and the Abolition of the Military") is a public plaza located in San José, Costa Rica, the national capital of Costa Rica. The plaza is located directly in front of the national congress building, which houses the Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica, and is flanked by the Museo Nacional de Costa Rica and the Museo del Jade.

The Greater Metropolitan Area of Costa Rica, (Spanish: Gran Área Metropolitana, GAM) is the largest urban agglomeration in Costa Rica, comprising areas of high population density surrounding the capital, San José, which geographically corresponds to the Central Valley and extended to include the Guarco Valley, where some of the cantons of the Cartago province are located. The proper definition and delimitation corresponds to the National Institute of Statistics and Census of Costa Rica (INEC) and could vary over time. According to the last census, the GAM has a population of 3.1 million inhabitants (about 60% of the population) in an area of 2,044 km² (just around 3.84% of the area Costa Rica ).