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.
Churches
Ujarras Church
The first church built in Costa Rica was constructed during the 1560's in the Valley of Ujarr�s near the Reventaz�n River. The settlement was eventually abandoned, however, due to recurring floods and episodes of pestilence. The ruins of the church are still visible on the site and have been declared a national monument.
The fate of the church in the Cartago parish has not been much better. Construction began in 1574, but between then and 1910 the building had to be rebuilt five times because of earthquake damage. Following the massive destruction caused by the Cartago quake of 1910, the church was abandoned and the ruins now form the centerpiece of a park in the middle of town.
Three blocks to the east of the parish ruins stands the Basilica of Our Lady of the Angels, an impressive Byzantine style church which is the national religious shrine of Costa Rica. Every year thousands of devotees from across the country make a pilgrimage on foot to honor the Virgin Mary and to render homage for favors conceded. This pilgrimage coincides with the feast day of the Virgin of the Angels held on August 2nd to commemorate the miraculous appearance (and subsequent reappearance) of a small carved image of the virgin mother to a young native girl in 1635. The church was erected on the actual site and the rock on which the statue appeared can be seen in a crypt entered from the left-hand side of the church's altar.
Nuestra Se�ora Reina de los Angeles
Was founded on September 4, 1781 by a group of Spanish pobladeros (settlers), consisting of 11 families 44 men, women and children. They were originally led by Fernando Javier Rivera y Moncada ( 1725-1781), and accompanied by a contingent of soldiers who had set out from the nearby Mission San Gabriel Arc�ngel to establish a pueblo along the banks of the Porci�ncula River at the Indian village of Yang-na. The church was considered an asistencia [1] ("sub-mission"). The settlement's name was derived from one of the advocations of Mary, mother of Jesus. Priests from Mission San Gabriel divided their time between the mission and the Asistencia site.
Nuestra Se�ora Reina de los Angeles Church
The new governor of California, Felip de Neve, subsequently recommended to the viceroy in Mexico that the site be developed into a small agricultural pueblo (town). The installation was therefore never actually granted mission status, and the surrounding area was duly named El Pueblo de Nuestra Se�ora la Reina de los Angeles del R�o de Porci�ncula ("The Town of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels on the River Porci�ncula" the present-day City of Los Angeles). The missionaries abandoned the site, where a chapel was later erected (La Iglesia de Nuestra Se�ora Reina de los Angeles, or "The Church of Our Lady Queen of the Angels") which for years served as the sole Roman Catholic church in the Pueblo de Los Angeles.
Iglesia de coronado
Iglesia de coronado
The church is the most impressive building of the area, an old construction that reminds the towers of European castles and sobriety of decoration, you can easily spot beautiful well marked pictures of saints in the windows.
In 1910, the canton was established with the name Juan V�squez de Coronado in honor of the conquistador and governor who explored the region for the Spanish Kingdom. Tourists from all over come to see the gothic construction of the brick Catholic Church first built in 1878.
Catedral de Alajuela
Catedral de Alajuela
Entering the east side of the Parque Central in Alajuela, you cannot miss this marble church with its gardens, red dome and the red fence that encircles it. Founded in 1854, the church is a large structure that is well worth visiting for its architectural style if not for its religious significance. While the interior of the church is simple, you will see that the pulpit features a very ornate and unique design.
Ruinas de Cartago
These ruins are of an uncompleted church that was destroyed in the 1910 earthquake. A garden is now found inside of the remaining solid walls. Las Ruinas is a major landmark in downtown Cartago and a good place to watch the comings and goings of locals.
Legend of Cartago Ruins
Ruinas de Cartago
One day two brothers went to the city of Cartago, one was single and the other a priest. There began a bitter rivalry as they both fell in love with the same woman. The woman chose and married the single brother, who was the more friendly and was loved by all. The priest only became all the more bitter and did everything he could to destroy his brother. In 1577 during the celebration of mass on new years he saw his brother in the church. That day he killed him with a knife. In penance for the deed he build a church for the city of Cartago. On the year it was completed an earthquake destroyed it.
The church has been rebuild, but each time it was brought down by earthquake. The city abandoned the church as cursed after the final destruction in 1910 and left it as the ruins you can now see when you visit the town square.
Iglesia de Puriscal
Iglesia de Puriscal
Settlement of the canton began around 1815. The first chapel was built there is 1858 and in 1871 the present church was built in honor of Sanitago de Gales. This church was recently damaged by a wave of earth tremors that hit the canton. The region today known as Puriscal was formerly called Cola de Pavo. Its present name evolved from the word purisco which refers to the time the beans begin to blossom.
This beautiful church was damaged so badly during an earthquake years ago, that there is no chance of repairing it. Nevertheless if you're going to meet someone in Puriscal, this is the place that's easiest to find.
Art and Culture 
