When I think of Costa Rica I think of nature, mountains, volcanos, tropical forests, diverse wildlife, beautiful coastline bordered by the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.
Costa Rica has all those things.
Most people fly into San Jose, stay the night, and then head out to all the great outdoor places.
It is the Teatro Nacional de Costa Rica (The National Theatre.) Also known as "The Jewel of San Jose".
It was started in 1891 and completed in 1897. At the time, the population of San Jose was less than 20,000.
So it was a very ambitious undertaking for such a small city and a new country.
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The visionary was the President at the time, Jose Joaquin Rodriguez Zeledon. He saw it as a stop for the worldwide opera circuit that was popular at the time.
To finance the construction he placed a tax on one of their lucrative exports - coffee.
The theatre seats slightly over 1,000 guests.
Plays, ballets, orchestras and other performances are still hosted on the stage.
We took a tour of the theatre and we were surprised by our guides, which were ghosts from the past. Our ghost was an upper class patron of the theatre. His wife joined us later in the tour. It was a very cute and imaginative way to get the history of the theatre across.
They told us that the theatre was not just for the upper class and wealthy, but also the lower, or poorer class who were able to buy tickets to performances.
They were seated on the 3rd floor, and had their own entrance, which went directly to their 3rd floor seats.,,,, so that they could save time.....
Their side door did not allow them a view of the beautiful entranceway or the grandeur of the stairway and lounge on the 2nd floor.
On the ceiling is a mural called "Allegory of Coffee and Bananas". It was featured on the five colone bill at the time. That is, until inflation turned the 5 colone bill into a coin.
The painting is dedicated to the coffee farmers, who without them the theatre would have never existed. The painting depicts rural life in Costa Rica. It was painted by a European artist who had never been to Costa Rica. So there are a few inaccuracies.
For instance, the workers are depicted as cradling the bananas in their arms, whereas in reality they were carried over their shoulders.
The theatre is baroque architecture.
There were some challenges during construction, so they hired an Italian architect to correct the problems.
The opulence for a city of less than 20K is amazing.
And all funded through taxes on coffee.
The theatre is patterned after the Palace Garnier in Paris.
On the 2nd floor there is the lounge for intermission, pre and post performance.
It was a place to see and be seen.
The grandeur was unprecedented in central America.
The intent was to impress and attract attention to the new small country in central America.
It was about establishing a new country and showing itself off on an international stage.
I was definitely impressed. I had no idea that such a grand building existed in San Jose. I would say it is a must-see in Costa Rica.
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