Juan Santamaría Historical Cultural Museum
Museum in Alajuela's old barracks on the 1856–57 National Campaign and the drummer boy Juan Santamaría.
The museum stands on the north side of Alajuela's central park, in a thick-walled adobe and brick building put up in 1874 as the city's barracks and later used as a jail. It was converted and opened as a museum on 9 April 1980, the anniversary of the battle of Rivas, and takes its name from Juan Santamaría, the young drummer from Alajuela who is Costa Rica's national hero.
The collection is devoted almost entirely to the National Campaign of 1856 and 1857, when Costa Rica and its neighbours fought the filibuster expedition of the American William Walker. Displays gather weapons, uniforms, flags, documents, maps and nineteenth-century paintings of the battles, arranged around an arcaded interior courtyard. The museum also runs temporary exhibitions, a publishing programme and a regular calendar of evening concerts, talks and theatre in the courtyard.
Highlights
- Housed in Alajuela's barracks of 1874, later the city jail
- Weapons, uniforms and flags from the National Campaign of 1856–57
- Nineteenth-century battle paintings, including scenes of La Angostura
- Arcaded courtyard used for evening concerts, talks and theatre
![[King Thibaw Min's Throne Room - Mandalay]title QS:P1476,en:"[King Thibaw Min's Throne Room - Mandalay]"label QS:Len,"[King Thibaw Min's Throne Room - Mandalay]"](https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/02/Felice_Beato_%28British%2C_born_Italy_-_%28King_Thibaw_Min%27s_Throne_Room_-_Mandalay%29_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg/500px-Felice_Beato_%28British%2C_born_Italy_-_%28King_Thibaw_Min%27s_Throne_Room_-_Mandalay%29_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg)
