CULTURE
Costa Ricans take a strong
interest in their pre-Columbian art, which includes large statues
from the Pacific northwest, smaller examples of carved relief
in stone from other districts, and some fine work done in the
form of small objects of gold. Samples of all these may be seen
in the national museum. Guayabo National Park, near Turrialba,
features the country's only preserved pre-Columbian archaeological
site. Genuine colonial architecture is rather scarce, the most
famed example being a 17th-century mission in Orosí. Cartago's
older buildings, destroyed by earthquakes, have in some cases
been restored; new ones like them have also been built. Among
the folk arts, Costa Rica is most famous for its highly decorative
oxcarts.
The fine arts have seldom flourished in Costa Rican history, but
they have received some impetus from government support, particularly
with the creation in 1970 of the Ministry of Culture, Youth, and
Sports. Painting, sculpting, and music all showed considerable
development in the latter part of the 20th century. Particular
pride was taken in the growth of the National Symphony Orchestra
since 1971, with the ensemble playing large halls and also taking
music to the countryside. Costa Ricans have been marginally active
in the field of literature. Roberto Brenes Mesén and Ricardo Fernández
Guardia were widely known as independent thinkers in the fields
of education and history, respectively. Fabián Dobles has attracted
international attention as a writer of novels on social-protest
themes.
Costa Rica has developed the largest national park system of any
Latin American country, relative to its territorial extent. These
parks include a bewildering range of tropical ecosystems, such
as tropical rain forest, cloud forest, dry forest, and elfin forest.
Other parks include active volcanoes, turtle nesting sites, and
coral reefs. The national parks are a major attraction for Costa
Ricans, who flock to them on weekends and major holidays such
as Easter Week, Independence Day (September 15), and the week
between Christmas and New Year's Day. International tourists are
also attracted by these parks, some of which are noted worldwide
for their vegetation and wildlife.
Numerous publishing houses operate in the country, issuing both
fiction and nonfiction on a wide range of topics. The government-operated
Editorial Costa Rica and the Editorial Universitaria Centroamericana
are among the most prolific of the publishing houses. Both the
number and variety of publications available in Costa Rican bookstores
surpasses those of any other Central American country and some
South American countries as well. La Nación, an independent but
conservative daily, is the most widely read of Costa Rica's newspapers.
It is balanced by La Républica and La Prensa Libre, independents
that lean more toward reform ideas. There are several television
stations, one of which is government-owned.
