It would be impossible to cover all of the attractions that are offered for tourists and nationals in Costa Rica in a single article. However, it is possible to discuss some of the most important museums. All of the museums that will be mentioned are conveniently located in San Jose, the capital city of Costa Rica; thus, more than one can be visited on the same day.

The Museo de Oro Precolombino or Museum of Precolumbian gold is located under the Plaza de la Cultura in downtown San Jose. The impressive underground building that houses the exhibit creates a mysterious and dark background for the gleaming beauty of the golden pieces, which seem to float because they're suspended by transparent strings. These indigenous jewels depict numerous animals- frogs, birds, snakes, insects, crocodiles, lobsters and even sharks. The Museo de Moneda, or the Coin Museum, is located in the same building, and its exhibit includes information on coins, as well as interesting samples.

The other museum which displays impressive Indian jewelry, is the Museo de Jade, or the Jade Museum. It's located in the INS building in downtown (in the National Insurance building). The amazing quantities and the quality of the jade in the country can only be attributed to trade, since the country lacks jade mines. The exhibit in this museum is the largest American jade collection in the world. The collection is extremely valuable because of the rarity of the mineral and of the religious and historical significance that it has for the Indian population and for the Costa Ricans in general. Like the golden pieces, the jade artifacts also depict animal shapes.

The national museum or Museo Nacional is located in an old fort, which was marked by bullet holes during the 1948 Civil War. The archaeological room offers several Indian artifacts made of stone and clay, like pottery. The colonial room presents facts about the conquest and also some examples of religious art brought by the Spaniards. Another section of the Museum is dedicated to current exhibits.

For the art lovers there are two museums that they won't want to miss. The Museo de Arte Costarricense is located in the Sabana urban park, in a beautiful building that was the old international airport. The gorgeous architecture of the building doesn't detract from the fine paintings and sculptures that are on exhibit. Some of the finest Costa Rican art is present in this collection. The Museo de arte contemporaneo (contemporary art), is located in what used to be the National Liquor factory. This sounds very strange, but believe me, the once industrial place has turned into a very artistic and graceful set of buildings and surrounding grounds. Some exhibits vary all the time, and the small and medium-sized auditoriums offer dance and theater presentations.

For the nature-oriented people, there are the Museo de Ciencias Naturales La Salle (Natural science) and the small Entomology Museum in the University of Costa Rica. The first museum is located in La Sabana, and it presents a taxidermy collection of various animals and a preserved fish and reptile exhibit. The small university museum (located for some weird reason in the basement of the Music School) contains a large collection of insects of Central and South America, including beautiful butterflies. The admission is free in this museum, but the hours are pretty irregular.

Last but not least, there is the pretty gruesome Museo Criminologico (criminology museum), also located downtown. There are bizarre pictures and even body parts! Besides these grotesque artifacts, there is a narration of the history of criminology and law enforcement in Costa Rica.

The small country of Costa Rica offers a large amount of museums that are dedicated to everything from pre-columbian jewelry made of gold and jade, to natural taxidermy collections, to bizarre criminology displays. All of the main museums are in the downtown San Jose area or very close to it, and can be accessed easily on bus or by taxi.

Jade Museum

After an extensive remodeling, the Jade Museum has moved from top floor of the INS building to the ground floor. Now this famous museum, located in downtown San Jose, has much easier access.
This archeological collection, including over 7000 pieces, is one of the larfest Pre-Columbian collections in Latin America and the largest collection of Jade in the world.  To trace the museum’s beginnings, we must look into the surge in foreign sales of Pre-Columbian archeology in the 70s, which brought about the decision to purchase this great historical wealth through the Treasury Department.

When you first step on the white tile floor in the museum’s entrance, you sense that you’re going to find a collection of highly valuable, beautiful objects. They are, and they’ll surprise you, but what will redirect your gaze is the relationship that these pieces have with Pre-Columbian societies and cultures. Through stone, ceramics,  gold and course jade, the museum shows you ways of life, cult, power relationships and history. 
Shapes and colors speak of historical evidence and will sharpen your understanding of Central America’s origins and the increadible dominion that these peoples has over advanced cutting, carving and polishing techniques. The attention-grabbing mixtures of jade’s green describe and valuable object that united a people with magic and the shaman.
More than a museum of precious objects, the new Jade Museum is symbolic and archeological museum.  Exhibition spaces are open, which helps you discover the museum in watherver direction you wish. The didactic capacity of their panels and layout are outstanding. It’s worth noting that the classical notion of a museum that only lets you see is broken here. Instead, they offer the possibility to touch and feel jade’s cold, smooth surface and use a few of instruments that were used in giving detail to these elements. You’ll see the museum in about 45 minutes, so your visit could be short. The museum is open Monday through Friday from 9:30 am to 4:03 pm and Saturdays from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm. The entrance fee is $2 for foreigners and 500 colones for national residents.