Guayabo National Monument
The Guayabo National Monument is an important cultural monument in Costa Rica . It is located in the province of Cartago on the slopes of the Turrialba volcano , 19 kilometers from the city of the same name.
It was placed under protection in 1973 as the largest archaeological site in the country, covers an area of 217 hectares and is 1,100 meters above sea level. During excavations, a network of cobbled streets and dams, open and covered aqueducts, cisterns, stairs, mounds, rock carvings, monoliths, tombs and sculptures have been uncovered. Everything indicates that there was a pre-Columbian city here that was inhabited between 1000 BC and 1400 AD.
The society was organized in a tribal principality, hierarchically divided into ranks. This led to a specialization of craftsmen and workers' structures. The people practiced hunting, farming and fishing. The huge amounts of stones and slabs that were necessary to build the kilometer-long dams, canals and other basic structures indicate a highly developed knowledge of construction and urban planning, as well as a large number of workers who employed over a long period of time were.
The archaeological area covers around 20 hectares, of which only a small part has so far been exposed. It was discovered by the Costa Rican naturalist Prof. Anastasio Alfaro at the end of the 19th century .
Guayabo was named to the List of International Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks by the American Society of Civil Engineers in 2009 .
The area is in a zone of mild, very humid climate. Large expanses of evergreen forest, rich in bromeliads and orchids, cover the area and provide refuge for toucans, woodpeckers and oropendolas .
Trivia
During the Cuban Missile Crisis, images from US military satellites led the Americans to believe that this was an unknown military facility.
See also
Web links
- Monumento Nacional Guayabo
- Guayabo National Monument
- Áreas Protegidas y Parques Nacionales de Costa Rica (Spanish)
Coordinates: 9 ° 56 ′ 0 ″ N , 83 ° 40 ′ 0 ″ W.