The National Theatre and the Gold Museum

We visited the National Museum and got a deeper look at Costa Rica’s history, from its indigenous cultures to modern times. One of the highlights was seeing the giant spherical stones—mysterious pre-Columbian artifacts that still leave historians guessing about their purpose. 

These are acouple of images during a walk down the walking mall street. 

In the evening we stopped at a restaurant called Em Boca, which turned out to be a real treat. The food was excellent, and the cocktails were incredible—definitely a place worth remembering.

We wrapped up our San José tour with a visit to the Gold Museum and the National Theatre. The Gold Museum is a fascinating dive into Costa Rica’s pre-Columbian heritage, with hundreds of gold artifacts, jewelry, and ceremonial items displayed in beautifully arranged cases. It really gives a sense of the skill and artistry of the region’s early cultures. 

Inside the Museo del Oro Precolombino, we came across a powerful temporary exhibition called Rutas Clandestinas: Los Sin Nombre by Costa Rican artist Ingrid Rudelman. Instead of focusing only on ancient objects, this show uses more than 20 sculptures to make you think about the human side of migration — the difficult, dangerous journeys people take when they leave home looking for a better life. The figures don’t even have names; each is labeled with the latitude and longitude of the route it represents, and the mix of white and black marble symbolizes both fragility and resilience as people travel through harsh conditions. Rudelman’s work is meant to foreground the individuals behind the statistics, showing the complexity, risk, and often hidden human stories of migration across continents and borders.

After the gold museum we took a walk around the tourist area looking for another Museum that ended up closed, but it took a while and we got a chance to walk around all the tourist streets. 

Afterward, we toured the National Theatre, a stunning example of neoclassical architecture with a lavish interior filled with chandeliers, murals, and carved wood details. It’s easy to see why this theatre has been called one of the most beautiful in the Americas—just walking inside feels like stepping back into a grand, cultural moment.