Haga click en el siguiente enlace para leer está página en Español: Museo Histórico Etnográfico Elías Leiva Quirós del Colegio San Luis Gonzaga en Costa Rica
San Luis Gonzaga’s High School Elías Leiva Quirós Historical Ethnographic Museum Costa Rica aims to preserve and exhibit the archaeological and historical 
collection that started to be collected on November 10th, 1932. It consists of a colonial arms room, a pre-Columbian pieces room and a room that represents a “colonial home”. It is located in one of the oldest cities in Costa Rica, in a valley not far from San Jose. Here, students go to class in a building that has been an academy, barracks, school and museum.
To celebrate the anniversary of the decree that made free and obligatory the national education, several teachers in the province of Cartago gathered many historical artifacts. Professor Elías Leiva Quirós, it’s first manager, well known for his effort and sacrifice in making this project a reality, with the idea to educate students in the love for their country through its history.
This is how, with these first objects, the museum was created by decree on January 9th, 1832 at the San Luis Gonzaga High School, a museum dedicated to preserve the Cartago culture. After the death of Don Elías, in 1936, the museum passed through different experiences, especially marked by the time of the civil war in 1948. During the conflict, the San Luis Gonzaga High School was used as barracks and prison and during this occupation is that the museum was looted. After 1948, the surviving collection is made available to the public, but without the necessary security conditions, this 
situation continued until 1965 when the then-director Don Jesús Baldares Molina introduced several improvements to the museum and moved it to its current location at the lower part of the institutional building northeast section.
On November 10th, 1965 it was reopened with the name Elías Leiva Quirós Ethnographic Museum, as a tribute to its sponsor and it is in this structure that operates at present. Within its extensive collection people can trace the history of Costa Rica, from pre-Hispanic times through the period of conquest and colony, until the nineteenth and early twentieth century.
To complete the experience, the same building that houses the school and the museum is an architectural gem with a lot of history: built in the 1920s, with its impressive stairway entrance and central plaza, it has seen many generations of students, as it was the host of the first high school in Costa Rica, opened in 1869.
The trip is complemented with the living history that exists in the “old city”. All around the city’s central town there are historic houses and buildings, many with sensitive architectural works that combine with the beautiful view of the Irazú Volcano and the Tierra Blanca and Pacaya towns. The museum seeks to be a dynamic entity, which is projected to the San Luis Gonzaga students and faculty, and including them in its activities designed to help the Cartago community. The Elías Leiva Quirós Historical Ethnographic Museum is a project that is constantly being updated, as it has throughout its history and now begins a new cycle in it’s process. Come and be part of the living history of this museum!
Address: North side of the San Luis Gonzaga High School, district: Occidental, canton: Cartago, province: Cartago, Costa Rica. Zone postal code: 30102.
GPS Coordinates: 9.862428,-83.922689 (9°51’44.74″N, 83°55’21.68″W)
Phone: + (506) 2551-0895
has in display an archaeological exhibit of the area, featuring the lifestyles of Turrialba’s early populations. It also exhibits a magnificent collection of ceramic figures and policies, including scrapers, burins, knives, etc, and a reconstruction of a typical house used by the aborigines of the area.
learn the wonderful world of volcanoes. The museum teaches about the Irazú volcano, about its history, eruptions, hydrography, flora, fauna, agriculture and people, and also educates about the volcanoes of Costa Rica, volcanoes on Earth and volcanoes in other planets, how they are formed and much more. The museum features films of the Irazú volcano, legends and photographs of other volcanoes.
abandoned, until 1985, when the priest Gerardo Sanabria arrives to the village, who in the early nineties, continues the museum project, supported by ACUJA (Ujarrás Cultural Association), however, at this time it didn’t open its doors, because they continued researching and preparing the space for it. In 2000, due to renovations in the physical infrastructure of the parish, the museum was transferred and reopened in 2003 at the bottom of the temple, which until today offers to the public the history of the canton of Paraiso, Cartago.
he religious devoted to the Ujarrás Virgin, as well as worship objects and important celebrations; the historical with documents, relocation decrees, scrolls, newspapers, etc. The museum features photographs of ancestors and activities of the village with an area dedicated to Don Florencio del Castillo, his life and importance to our country, and with an Indian grave with petroglyph casket brought from Urasca and rests of the ancient foundations of the temple constructed with Calicanto.
located next to the temple in an Ancient Franciscan Fathers Convent, construction that dates back to 1743. Both the temple and the museum were built in the late eighteenth century by the Franciscan Fathers and have become the symbol of the colonial era. The buildings are made of adobe and some Calicanto, a mixture of stone, cement, sand and lime. Its exterior is austere, but the interior decor is absolutely baroque with carved and painted wooden sculptures and altarpieces.
ancient legend about the construction of the Orosi Church, which is located next to the San Jose of Orosi Religious Art Museum. It is said that the temple opens its door to the main rising sun, a rarity compared to other churches that look to the West.
epic starring, and to assume an evaluation role on the Alajuela cultural heritage values.
Pepe is recognized in the world for having the vision to abolish the army, allowing Costa Rica to invest in social development. He was a man committed to culture and always gave great importance to the cultivation of the arts.
values of the Costa Rican nation. It also takes account of customs and traditions and organizes competitions for portals, local foods and volley, among others.
real locomotive. You can also gain valuable insights on agrarian culture, through the various tools and machinery used by farmers over the years.
with Cebadilla, which was completed in 2002 and declared a Historic-Architectural Heritage of Costa Rica, according to Executive Decree No. 30936-C, published in Official Gazette No. 12 on January 17th, 2003.
light of the needs and challenges of the present.
business development. Many popular cultural practices lost interest and force, so it began a period of deterioration, neglect and extinction. These cultural practices are our heritage today and for that reason, the Popular Culture Museum (Popular Folk) has taken them as an object of study so that they are studied and preserved for the enjoyment of present and future generations. This is why the programs, projects and activities of the museum are aimed at different sectors, such as students, teachers, families, seniors, organized groups and tourism.
, which mission is to promote a greater awareness of the importance of biodiversity, to achieve its conservation and improve the quality of human’s life. Its role is to teach society in biodiversity, to raise awareness of the biological richness of Costa Rica, its value and the importance of conserving it, these is what led to the creation of INBioparque.
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