The San Ramon Museum Reopened this Past Saturday in Costa Rica.

Costa Rica is forever widening its cultural attractions and the renovations and the opening of more museums and tourist destinations are always in the headlines; from the new ecological theme park Veragua, to the renovations of the Costa Rican Art Museum and the investment in a new museum next to the Basilica de Los Angeles in Cartago.

San Ramon is now following suit by undertaking the renovation of its local Museum. A quiet little town in the Alajuela province, San Ramon is only 47 km from San Jose. Its history began in 1840 when the earliest European settlers arrived in the Central Valley. Two prominent figures gave their name to the little town, Ramon Solis and Ramon Rodriguez, and it was placed under the protection of Saint Raymond.

In 1854 it officially became San Ramon de Palmares and took the status of a Municipality. Later on, schools were built and the district of San Ramon was born, as it became the main government seat of the province of Alajuela. Since 1876 San Ramón has also served as the government center of Alajuela Province’s second largest district that is also named San Ramón.

The museum, as we know it today, actually started as a classroom. Soon the idea to transform it into a museum grew in popularity, and in 1970 some temporary exhibitions were on display, with with themes such as archeology, history and the arts. It was not before 1986 however that it became the cultural complex that it is today.

Two years ago the museum closed its doors to the public as it needed some renovation work. Ethnic and anthropological themes were part of the restoration and have been emphasized along with exhibits about the heritage of the indigenous culture of the region, which can be seen in the pre-Colombian room. The studies of the richness of the indigenous culture of the canton of San Ramon that stretches past Barranca, Puntarenas give us an interesting anthropological exhibition of great value and interest. Other rooms explore the birth of the little town itself while artisan crafts of the region are also on display. The building itself was declared to be a national heritage monument in 1982.

Another cultural event that recently took place was the re-opening of the ancient guard rooms and dungeons of the military headquarters that also served as a jail in San Jose, in El Cuartel Bellavista; formally known at the Bellavista Fort, with origins dating back to 1916. The exhibition is on show within the National Museum on the Plaza de la Democracia in San Jose.

This sector of the fort is key to some important events in Costa Rica history, and the walls have preserved the graffiti left by some convicts a long time ago. Social and political history from the 1930s to the 1940s can be followed there with these inscriptions left by political prisoners and soldiers. Visitors can appreciate the conditions in which the prisoners were kept, and view their sanitary services; which provide a good idea of what it was like to live there, and indeed for some, for it was forever!

The old military base has a display of the many changes it endured until it finally became a museum, with old photographs showing what it looked then and how it was adapted to become what it is today. It actually became a museum in 1948 when the Costa Rican revolutionary junta abolished the nation’s army.

This exhibition is open Tuesday to Saturday, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., sharing the museums schedule.

Photo courtesy of La Nacion.

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Filed under: Travel on August 27th, 2008