La Cruz de Guanacaste
Encyclopedia
La Cruz is the tenth canton of Guanacaste province
in Costa Rica
, established since 1969. La Cruz bounded on the north with Nicaragua
and is where the main border crossing is (Peñas Blancas
). La Cruz is located on the shores of what is known as the viewpoint La Cruz. This viewpoint, and the Santa Rosa National Park
are its biggest tourist attractions, where the Casona de Santa Rosa, preserved since the mid nineteenth century, is a monument to the history of the country. The best known beaches of La Cruz are: Junquillal, Cuajiniquil, Jobo, Rajada, Salinas Bay and Manzanillo.
times the area currently known as the canton de La Cruz, was part of a province of the Indians called Chorotega
s whose domains ranged from the Nicoya Peninsula to Lake Nicaragua
, made up of several villages or domains.
The region was discovered by Don Gil Gonzalez Davila
in 1522, on their march to another province of the Chorotegas, which was under the authority of the chief of Nicarao (today known as Nicaragua). In 1561 Don Juan de Cavallon from Granada
passed through this area in his expedition to reach the Central Valley. In September 1562 Juan Vásquez de Coronado passed by this area too, who brought cattle and horses from León
. He also went through the region of Perafán de Ribera in his journey towards Cartago
.
In the second half of the nineteenth century, the first farmers from Rivas, Nicaragua came to this region, beginning the formation of ranches. On March 20, 1856, our troops fought their first battle against the filibusters of William Walker in the Hacienda Santa Rosa, and succeeded in defeating the invaders.
In the government administration of Ascensión Esquivel Ibarra
, in 1906 the school was located fifty meters east of the existing lookout built by the Instituto Costarricense de Turismo (National Tourism Chamber). In 1953, a new school was built called Salvador Villar Muñoz. The college named Liceo La Cruz began teaching in 1969, the government of José Joaquín Trejos Fernández
as a supplementary educational secondary school, at first in the day and then at night, located at the school, in 1973 opened the current premises.
Law No. 20, the 18th of October 1915, was enacted in the territorial division for administrative purposes, in which La Cruz was the third district of Liberia's canton.
The first chapel was built in 1923, located at the northeast corner of the existing park. During the time of archbishop Monsignor Víctor Manuel Sanabria Martínez, second Archbishop
of Costa Rica
, in 1949, the parish was erected, with devotion to the Holy Cross, which is currently suffrage of the Diocese of Tilarán
of the Ecclesiastical Province of Costa Rica.
The pipe was opened in the year 1946, in the administration of former president Teodoro Picado Michalski
.
In the government of José Joaquín Trejos Fernández, on July 23, 1969, law No. 4354, was granted the title of Villa of the town of La Cruz, head of canton set up with that purpose. Later, in Act No. 4574 of May 4, 1970, promulgated the Municipal Code, third article, that confirmed that this villa was now a City because of being head of the canton.
On August 10, 1970 was held the first meeting of the Council of La Cruz, composed of the following owners: Piedad Loáiciga Salgado, President: Victor Manuel Hernandez Ortega, Vice President: Carlos Manuel Rodriguez Campos. The Municipal Executive was Sancho Felix Gallo and the City Clerk: Jose Luis Fallas Leitón.
The name of La Cruz dates back to the incident at the time when the mules carried the cattle from Nicaragua to Esparza, when one of them passing through the region fell dead because he pursued a cow that had escaped from the herd. This is why their peers placed a cross of sticks on his grave. Later, this cross served as a reference to the mules that went over there to make a break and also count the cattle, before continuing their journey to their final destination. Over time the site led to the formation of a burgeoning population, which began to be known as La Cruz.
Approximately 72% of its economically active population worked in livestock, agriculture and fisheries. Its further development was due to the opening of the Interamericana Street. The trade of Costa Rica with the rest of Central America
has led the increase in the passage of vehicles to be bound by crossing La Cruz, encouraging them to people. The development of tourism in the region has generously helped the people of this canton, as many work in informal trade activities; others have turned their houses into small hotels and sodas. The arrival of tourists (domestic and foreign) to the beaches of the canton has been growing steadily, generating demand for luxury hotels and homes that have been developed across the coastal zone. The lack of appropriate places of healthy amusement leads to the consumption of beer, making alcoholism one of the major ills afflicting the canton. The limit is set by dividing the Guanacaste Volcanic Mountain Range, where the Orosi Volcano is located which gives a beautiful faraway view from the Bolaños Bay area. La Cruz is a small city that offers all the basic services and is located 45 minutes from Liberia
which is the biggest city in Guanacaste.
Guanacaste Province
Guanacaste is a province of Costa Rica located in the northwestern part of the country, along the coast of the Pacific Ocean. To the north it borders Nicaragua. To the east is the Alajuela Province, and to the southeast is the Puntarenas Province. It is the most sparsely populated of all the...
in Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
, established since 1969. La Cruz bounded on the north with Nicaragua
Nicaragua
Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
and is where the main border crossing is (Peñas Blancas
Peñas Blancas
Peñas Blancas is a village and municipality in Río Negro Province in Argentina....
). La Cruz is located on the shores of what is known as the viewpoint La Cruz. This viewpoint, and the Santa Rosa National Park
Santa Rosa National Park
Santa Rosa National Park, in Spanish the , is a national park, part of the Area de Conservación Guanacaste World Heritage site, in the northern western part of Costa Rica, originally created to protect the scene of the Battle of Santa Rosa, at its eastern edge lies the Interamerican Highway where...
are its biggest tourist attractions, where the Casona de Santa Rosa, preserved since the mid nineteenth century, is a monument to the history of the country. The best known beaches of La Cruz are: Junquillal, Cuajiniquil, Jobo, Rajada, Salinas Bay and Manzanillo.
History of La Cruz
In Pre-ColumbianPre-Columbian
The pre-Columbian era incorporates all period subdivisions in the history and prehistory of the Americas before the appearance of significant European influences on the American continents, spanning the time of the original settlement in the Upper Paleolithic period to European colonization during...
times the area currently known as the canton de La Cruz, was part of a province of the Indians called Chorotega
Chorotega
Chorotega, also known as Mangue, was a language indigenous people of Honduras, Costa Rica and Nicaragua. The ethnic population number around 10,000. The Chorotega language, which was a member of the Manguean branch of the Oto-Manguean language family, is now extinct...
s whose domains ranged from the Nicoya Peninsula to Lake Nicaragua
Lake Nicaragua
Lake Nicaragua or Cocibolca or Granada or is a vast freshwater lake in Nicaragua of tectonic origin. With an area of , it is the largest lake in Central America, the 19th largest lake in the world and the 9th largest in the Americas. It is slightly smaller than Lake Titicaca. With an elevation...
, made up of several villages or domains.
The region was discovered by Don Gil Gonzalez Davila
Gil González Dávila
Gil González Dávila was a Spanish Conquistador and the first European to arrive in present-day Nicaragua.González Dávila first appears in historical records in 1508, when he received a royal commission to examine accounts and tax records of estates. He probably traveled soon afterward to Santo...
in 1522, on their march to another province of the Chorotegas, which was under the authority of the chief of Nicarao (today known as Nicaragua). In 1561 Don Juan de Cavallon from Granada
Granada
Granada is a city and the capital of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence of three rivers, the Beiro, the Darro and the Genil. It sits at an elevation of 738 metres above sea...
passed through this area in his expedition to reach the Central Valley. In September 1562 Juan Vásquez de Coronado passed by this area too, who brought cattle and horses from León
León, Nicaragua
León is a department in northwestern Nicaragua . It is also the second largest city in Nicaragua, after Managua. It was founded by the Spaniards as Santiago de los Caballeros de León and rivals Granada, Nicaragua, in the number of historic Spanish colonial homes and churches...
. He also went through the region of Perafán de Ribera in his journey towards Cartago
Cartago
Cartago is the name of at least three different places:* Cartago Province, Costa Rica* Cartago, Costa Rica, capital of the province of Cartago* Cartago, Valle del Cauca, Colombia* Cartago, California, United States-See also:*Special:Allpages/Cartago...
.
In the second half of the nineteenth century, the first farmers from Rivas, Nicaragua came to this region, beginning the formation of ranches. On March 20, 1856, our troops fought their first battle against the filibusters of William Walker in the Hacienda Santa Rosa, and succeeded in defeating the invaders.
In the government administration of Ascensión Esquivel Ibarra
Ascensión Esquivel Ibarra
Ascensión Esquivel Ibarra was a Nicaraguan-born President of Costa Rica from 1902 to 1906...
, in 1906 the school was located fifty meters east of the existing lookout built by the Instituto Costarricense de Turismo (National Tourism Chamber). In 1953, a new school was built called Salvador Villar Muñoz. The college named Liceo La Cruz began teaching in 1969, the government of José Joaquín Trejos Fernández
José Joaquín Trejos Fernández
José Joaquín Antonio Trejos Fernández was President of Costa Rica from 1966 to 1970.His parents were Juan Trejos Quirós and Emilia Fernández Aguilar. As a student he obtained degrees in mathematics and economics from the University of Costa Rica...
as a supplementary educational secondary school, at first in the day and then at night, located at the school, in 1973 opened the current premises.
Law No. 20, the 18th of October 1915, was enacted in the territorial division for administrative purposes, in which La Cruz was the third district of Liberia's canton.
The first chapel was built in 1923, located at the northeast corner of the existing park. During the time of archbishop Monsignor Víctor Manuel Sanabria Martínez, second Archbishop
Archbishop
An archbishop is a bishop of higher rank, but not of higher sacramental order above that of the three orders of deacon, priest , and bishop...
of Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
, in 1949, the parish was erected, with devotion to the Holy Cross, which is currently suffrage of the Diocese of Tilarán
Tilarán
Tilarán is a small town in the Guanacaste Province, Costa Rica. It is the seat of the Tilarán Canton located in the hills overlooking the west shore of Lake Arenal...
of the Ecclesiastical Province of Costa Rica.
The pipe was opened in the year 1946, in the administration of former president Teodoro Picado Michalski
Teodoro Picado Michalski
Teodoro Picado Michalski was the President of Costa Rica from 1944 to 1948.-Overview:Teodoro Picado governed Costa Rica immediately after the presidency of Rafael Angel Calderón Guardia and preceded the de facto junta of José Figueres...
.
In the government of José Joaquín Trejos Fernández, on July 23, 1969, law No. 4354, was granted the title of Villa of the town of La Cruz, head of canton set up with that purpose. Later, in Act No. 4574 of May 4, 1970, promulgated the Municipal Code, third article, that confirmed that this villa was now a City because of being head of the canton.
On August 10, 1970 was held the first meeting of the Council of La Cruz, composed of the following owners: Piedad Loáiciga Salgado, President: Victor Manuel Hernandez Ortega, Vice President: Carlos Manuel Rodriguez Campos. The Municipal Executive was Sancho Felix Gallo and the City Clerk: Jose Luis Fallas Leitón.
The name of La Cruz dates back to the incident at the time when the mules carried the cattle from Nicaragua to Esparza, when one of them passing through the region fell dead because he pursued a cow that had escaped from the herd. This is why their peers placed a cross of sticks on his grave. Later, this cross served as a reference to the mules that went over there to make a break and also count the cattle, before continuing their journey to their final destination. Over time the site led to the formation of a burgeoning population, which began to be known as La Cruz.
Approximately 72% of its economically active population worked in livestock, agriculture and fisheries. Its further development was due to the opening of the Interamericana Street. The trade of Costa Rica with the rest of Central America
Central America
Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...
has led the increase in the passage of vehicles to be bound by crossing La Cruz, encouraging them to people. The development of tourism in the region has generously helped the people of this canton, as many work in informal trade activities; others have turned their houses into small hotels and sodas. The arrival of tourists (domestic and foreign) to the beaches of the canton has been growing steadily, generating demand for luxury hotels and homes that have been developed across the coastal zone. The lack of appropriate places of healthy amusement leads to the consumption of beer, making alcoholism one of the major ills afflicting the canton. The limit is set by dividing the Guanacaste Volcanic Mountain Range, where the Orosi Volcano is located which gives a beautiful faraway view from the Bolaños Bay area. La Cruz is a small city that offers all the basic services and is located 45 minutes from Liberia
Liberia, Costa Rica
Liberia is the capital and largest city of Guanacaste province, Costa Rica, located northwest of the national capital, San José.-Summary:With more than 35,000 inhabitants, Liberia is the regional hub of the Costa Rican northwest. The city center features a modern church, as many Costa Rican towns...
which is the biggest city in Guanacaste.