Courtesy of National Tourist Board 
BASILICA OF OUR LADY OF THE ANGELS, PATRON SAINT OF 
COSTA RICA, AT CARTAGO 
iron T-shaped wharf, the property of the Costa Rica Railway Company. The 
former, equipped with a shed and banana conveyors, is used by fruit com¬ 
panies for loading their ships; the latter has a berthing capacity for three vessels. 
Cartago, founded in 1564 by Vazquez de Coronado, is the oldest Spanish 
city in Costa Rica and during most of the colonial period it was the capital of 
the Province. The present city has a population of about 8,000 and is situ¬ 
ated at the base of the volcano Irazu, from whose summit, 11,200 feet above 
sea level, one can view the Caribbean, 35 miles to the east, the Pacific, 60 
miles to the west, and, far to the north, Lake Nicaragua, which forms a part 
of the Republic’s northern boundary. Cartago is higher than San Jose by 
a thousand feet and is therefore slightly^ cooler. 1 his ancient town has 
managed to preserve the traditional Spanish architecture more than has San 
Jose where modern and colonial buildings are found side by side. Like that 
of many of the Costa Rican cities, Cartago’s street system is uncomplicated, 
the streets running straight east and west, north and south. Most of the 
houses are of attractive frame construction. Perhaps the communal building 
having the greatest interest is the church dedicated to Costa Rica’s patron 
saint, A uestra Senora de los Angeles, or Our Lady of the Angels, which is 
famous not only within the Republic but throughout all Central America. 
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m HNM 
LOADING PIER AND BEACH AT PUNTARENAS, CHIEF COSTA RICAN 
PORT ON THE PACIFIC 
Cartago is on the Costa Rica Railway running from San Jose to Puerto 
Limon and is connected with the former city by the recently completed 
Carretera Central (Central Highway). The countryside around Cartago 
is devoted almost exclusively to the cultivation of some of Costa Rica’s finest 
grades of coffee and consequently the town has become a trading place for 
the plantation owners as well as a railway shipping point for coffee destined 
for the seaports. 
Puntarenas, Costa Rica s principal port on the Pacific coast, is situated on 
the Gulf of Nicoya on the end of a narrow spit of land extending for three 
miles westwaid into the Gulf and forming a lagoon between itself and the 
mainland. Puntarenas is a favorite summer resort for the people of San 
Jose, near the city are excellent beaches and deep-sea fishing excursions may 
tasih he made out of the port. I he Island of San Lucas, at the mouth of 
the harbor, is the site of the nation’s penal settlement. Puntarenas is the 
gateway to the Province of Guanacaste, a cattle-raising district occupying the 
Guanacaste peninsula, and the terminal point of the government-owned Pacific 
Railway 7- running westward from San Jose, the rail journey 7- between the 
cities being a matter of four hours or less. Formerly Puntarenas w r as the 
handling point for most of Costa Rica’s foreign commerce but Limon’s 
shipping trade has exceeded that of the Pacific port for many years. While 
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