La Sabana Metropolitan Park ( es, Parque Metropolitano La Sabana) is located in downtown

San José San José or San Jose (Spanish for Saint Joseph) most often refers to: *San Jose, California, United States *San José, Costa Rica, the nation's capital San José or San Jose may also refer to: Places Argentina * San José, Buenos Aires ** San ...

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

. It is the country's largest and most significant

urban park An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a municipal park (North America) or a public park, public open space, or municipal gardens ( UK), is a park in cities and other incorporated places that offer recreation and green space to resi ...

. ''La Sabana'' is considered "the lungs of San José" by Costa Ricans.

Geography

Covering an area of , La Sabana Metropolitan Park is adjacent to the city's core districts, offering green space and recreation to the residents of San José. Several important institutions and organizations are located within or adjacent to the park.

History

La Sabana Metropolitan Park was officially inaugurated in 1977, though its origins go back two centuries. Manuel Antonio Chapuí, the

parish priest A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

of San José at the end of the 17th century, donated several plots of land in the

Mata Redonda District Mata Redonda is a Districts of Costa Rica, district of the San José (canton), San José canton, in the San José Province, San José province of Costa Rica. Geography Mata Redonda has an area of 3.69 km2 and an elevation of 1125 metres. ...

"in order to favour Costa Rica's interests". Since that time, the area has been used for recreation and sports activities. Costa Rica's first president,

Juan Mora Fernández Juan Mora Fernández (July 12, 1784, San José, Costa Rica – November 16, 1854) was Costa Rica's first elected head of state. He was considered a liberal and decided to move the capital from Cartago to Puntarenas. Juan Mora was elected as ...

, and other ''josefino'' personalities devoted themselves to provide the park with several dispositions with the aim of preserving this green area legacy. For more than 150 years the park developed its characteristic vegetation, spurred by planting campaigns from the citizens. In 1930 this project was halted when the government decided to locate the country's first

international airport An international airport is an airport with customs and border control facilities enabling passengers to travel between countries around the world. International airports are usually larger than domestic airports and they must feature longer ...

within the park area. La Sabana International Airport functioned for 44 years, until the opening of the current

Juan Santamaría International Airport Juan Santamaría International Airport ( es, Aeropuerto Internacional Juan Santamaría) is the primary airport serving San José, the capital of Costa Rica. The airport is located in the city of Alajuela, 20 km (12 miles) west of downto ...

. During the decade of the 1960s the idea of turning La Sabana into San José's lungs was taking up again. With that goal, trees, shrubs and grass were planted. In 1977, during the

Daniel Oduber Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of Hebrew origin. It means "God is my judge"Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 68. (cf. Gabriel—"God is my strength"), ...

Administration, La Sabana was officially classified as a Metropolitan Park. In 2001 La Sabana was declared a National Architectural Heritage, by an Executive Decree.La Sabana Metro Park History
— Executive Decree 29305-C, dated February 23, 2001. Consejo Nacional de la Persona Adulta Mayor (CONAPAM) website.

Landmarks

La Sabana Metropolitan Park's most prominent buildings are the country's

national stadium Many countries have a national sport stadium, which typically serves as the primary or exclusive home for one or more of a country's national representative sports teams. The term is most often used in reference to an association football stadiu ...

and the Costa Rican Art Museum (Museo de Arte Costarricense). Both are sited within the park's green space. The stadium is located above the old stadium's former location. The art museum is housed in the former main building of 'old' La Sabana Airport.La Sabana Airport History
. Costa Rican Art Museum website. A large

artificial lake A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

, several sports fields, running and skating tracks, a gymnasium, and a shooting range are also inside its boundaries. Surrounding the park, several institutions have their main offices. These include the main electricity company of Costa Rica, ''

Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad ( en, Costa Rican Institute of Electricity) (ICE) is the Costa Rican government-run electricity and telecommunications services provider. Together with the Radiographic Costarricense SA (RACSA) and Compañ ...

'', and the nation's ''

Contraloría General de la República de Costa Rica The Comptroller General of the Republic of Costa Rica, ( es, Contraloría General de la República de Costa Rica), is a legal comptroller framework in Costa Rica. It is a constitutional body of the state, an assistant of the Legislative Assem ...

'' (Comptroller General) headquarters.

References

{{reflist, 32em San Jose, Costa Rica Astronaut Image

External links

Mcjdcr.go.cr: Pictures and info about La Sabana Metropolitan Park.

Ticoartistico.com: Pictures of La Sabana Metropolitan Park.
Parks in Costa Rica San José, Costa Rica Urban public parks San José (canton) Tourist attractions in San José, Costa Rica