Cheap Car Rental Costa Rica and Cartago Overview
One of the perks of vacationing in San Jose is location: the city is just minutes away from some of the world's most breathtaking natural landscapes. This means that cheap car rental Costa Rica travelers will have plenty of great outdoor adventures to choose from, including the beautiful area of Cartago. Cartago is the former capital of Costa Rica, and is located about 15 miles southeast of San Jose. The country's first and only city for almost 150 years, Cartago provides travelers with a whimsical look into the area's past. It doesn't matter how you slice it, a delightful day trip is waiting for you in Cartago, so why wait? Plan to visit this stunning location in your cheap car rental Costa Rica vehicles today.
Natural disasters equal landscaping perfection
As Costa Rica's oldest city, one would expect Cartago to be home to an amazing collection of Colonial architecture and historical buildings. Sadly, this is not the case. Earthquakes have damaged much of Cartago over the years, brought on in part by the city's close proximity to the Irazu Volcano. Many of the area's oldest buildings are now nothing more than rubble. Take the large church located at the heart of the city. The building all but collapsed in 1910 after a large quake in the area; but, instead of the tearing the building down, locals decided to leave the ruins, letting them settle into their natural surroundings. Today, cheap car rental Costa Rica travelers can visit the ruins, which are located inside a beautifully manicured park.
One building worth seeing
While many of Cartago's oldest buildings are no longer standing, there is one establishment that's managed to avoid destruction. This famous building is the Basilica de Nuestra Senora de Los Angeles (in English, the Basilica of Our Lady of the Angels). The church is dedicated to the patron saint of Costa Rica, and is located on the east side of town. Cheap car rental Costa Rica travelers will find a shrine containing a carved figure of La Negrita, or the Black Virgin, within the walls of the Byzantine-style church. Legend has it, that this saint first revealed herself on this site to a peasant girl back in 1635. The legend is as follows:
Juana Pereira, a peasant girl, stumbled upon the statue of La Negrita sitting atop a rock, one day while she was out gathering wood. The girl took the statue home, only to find that it missing the following morning. Later that day she located the statue - back at the rock where she had found it the day before. Juana repeated this process of discovery three times; after the third instance, she took the statue to a priest. When the statue again disappeared, the priest declared that a temple must be built on the site of the rock, thus resulting in the construction of the Basilica.
Inside the church, cheap car rental Costa Rica travelers will also find a staggering collection of offerings to the Black Virgin, including everything from sports trophies, to tiny silver images. Outside the church, cheap car rental Costa Rica travelers will find a handful of vendors selling a variety of these trinkets, as well as little candle replicas of La Negrita.
Getting to Cartago
It will take cheap car rental Costa Rica travelers approximately 45 minutes to get from San Jose to Cartago. The best way to get there is to follow the Avenida Central in Los Yoses and San Pedro. If you continue out the other side of the town, you'll find yourself in the Orosi Valley, which is generally considered to be the most beautiful valley in all of Costa Rica.