This now-ruined church was built in 1575 as a shrine to St James the Apostle. It was destroyed by the 1841 earthquake, rebuilt a few years later and then destroyed again in the 1910 earthquake. Today only the outer walls remain, but the pretty garden inside ‘the ruins’ is a pleasant spot for a stroll and some people-watching. Legend has it that the ghost of a headless priest wanders here.
Las Ruinas de la Parroquia
Central Valley & Highlands
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
11.7 MILES
On the southern side of the Plaza de la Cultura resides the Teatro Nacional, San José’s most revered building. Constructed in 1897, it features a columned…
28.84 MILES
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11.42 MILES
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Museo de Oro Precolombino y Numismática
11.7 MILES
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12.07 MILES
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11.36 MILES
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26.16 MILES
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11.72 MILES
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Nearby Central Valley & Highlands attractions
0.16 MILES
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2. Basílica de Nuestra Señora de Los Ángeles
0.48 MILES
Cartago's most important site, and Costa Rica's most venerated religious shrine, this basilica exudes Byzantine grace, with fine stained-glass windows,…
2.71 MILES
The University of Costa Rica runs the exceptional 11-hectare Lankester Gardens, started as a private garden by British orchid enthusiast Charles Lankester…
5.19 MILES
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6.21 MILES
The village of Ujarrás was damaged by an 1833 flood and then abandoned. All that remains are the crumbling walls of Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Limpia…
6.35 MILES
Orosi is one of the few colonial-era towns to survive Costa Rica’s frequent earthquakes, which have thankfully also spared the photogenic village church…
7. Museo de Arte Religioso San José Orosi
6.35 MILES
Adjacent to Orosi's church, this small museum housed in a former convent displays interesting examples of Spanish-colonial religious art and artefacts,…
7.96 MILES
This artisanal woodworking studio is run by Hermes and Miguel Quesada, sons of renowned Tico carver Macedonio Quesada. The brothers maintain the campesino…