Museum of the Central Bank of Costa Rica, Culture Plaza
To those visiting the Culture Plaza, the Central Bank of Costa Rica offers two important museums:
The pre-Columbian Gold “Alvaro Vargas Echeverria”, which exhibits a significant collection of gold objects, manufactured between 500 B.C. and the arrival of the Spaniards in the sixteenth century.
The Coin or Numismatic Collection “Jaime Solera Bennett”, which displays an important selection of bills and coins, a very good illustration of Costa Rica’s economic evolution.
The Museum opens daily, from 9:00 to 16:30. Read more... about the Pre-Columbian Gold Museum, and about the Numismatic Museum.

Museum of Contemporary Art and Design
Located in the former rums’ factory of the National Liquors Factory, it is noted by its walls made of boulders, nearly one meter thick, and cedar timberwork. It has six show rooms, where you can admire permanent and temporary collections. It also offers innovative proposals of contemporary art and design, a library, video collection, special movies’ projections, and reunions on topics like present day creativity, at a national and international scale; has as well a Central American Arts Documentation Center. The Museum opens from Thursday to Saturday, from 10:00 to 17:00.

National Museum, ancient Bellavista Fort
The Bellavista Fort was built in 1917, on the peek of Moras’ Hill, Cuesta de Moras (family name of the people living there), place occupied by the dwelling of Mauro Fernandez, reformer of Costa Rican education. This building has a place in our history, not by being a witness of military deeds, but because in 1948, José Figueres Ferrer, three times President of Costa Rica, wielding a hammer, stroke its walls, in an allegorical abolishment of the army, thus founding the National Museum, guardian of precious treasures of Costa Rica’s cultural heritage. The Museum opens Tuesday through Sunday, from 8:30 to 16:30.

Museum of Shapes, Spaces and Sounds, ancient Atlantic Railroad Station
The Atlantic railroad, built between 1871 and 1890, facilitated the contact with European markets. Before its construction, Costa Ricans had to travel through the port of Puntarenas, making it more difficult. The railroad station began operating in San José in the seventies, but it was not until 1908 that the present building came to be. With the closing of the railroad service, it became a Museum, an interactive design proposed for disabled persons and the public, offering an alternative approach to the Arts. The Museum opens in January and February, from Tuesday through Saturday, from 9:30 to 15:00 hours. From March to December, the Museum opens Monday through Friday, from 9:00 to 15:00 hours.

Jade Museum “Marco Fidel Tristan Castro”
This museum groups a series of important archaeological pieces, of pre-Columbian ages. Its purpose is to protect, conserve and divulge the Costa Rican indigenous heritage. There you may appreciate polychromic pottery, gold works, and jade pieces, of the Mesoamerican area, and mainly of certain regions of Costa Rica, among which Guanacaste and Nicoya(Northern Pacific); Central Valley; Atlantic Watershed, and Great Chiriqui. The Museum opens from Monday through Friday, from 8:30 to 15:30.