San Jose (Costa Rica)

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San Jose is the capital and largest city of the nation of Costa Rica. It is also the capital of San Jose province. San José is located on a mountain plateau at an elevation of about 1,170 meters above sea level. San Jose was a small village of little importance until 1824. In that year, Costa Rica's first elected head of state, liberal Juan Mora Fernández, decided to move the government of Costa Rica from the old Spanish colonial capital of Cartago and make a fresh start with a new city. This was a time of much optimism in the newly independent nation of Central America, of which Costa Rica was at that time a state. The new capital of San José grew rapidly. Because of its late 18th century origin, San José has little of the Spanish colonial architecture common in most other Latin American capitals. There are numerous bars around San Jose, with 3 major 'night life centers': A Street known as the Calle de la Amargura in San Pedro near the University of Costa Rica, with a couple of bars and discos where students like to hang out, thus offering 'reasonable' prices. A group of discos in Escazu with more elevated prices. Centro Comercial "El Pueblo" which resembles a old, colonial-style town with little alleys and a lot of discos and bars.