A historical review of Costa Rica tries to catch some moments of history: uncomplete and selected windows of time. In this part: Columbus arrives.

The country was visited by Christopher Columbus in 1502, during his fourth and final expedition. He arrived at Cariay, in front of the Quiribrí island (present day Isla Uvita), close to Puerto Limón. During his short stay, he moted that some of the natives wore gold decorations. Because of this, the are was dubbed costa rica. The subsequent conquest and colonization of the area was complicated by its distance and the fierce indigenous resistance, however it paled in comparison to the Spanish conquest of Mexico.

The Spanish crown started in 1506 to colonize the region, but failed to do so successfully due to resistance and tropical diseases. Other expeditions followed, but failed too. During the 16th century, the area found itself with a quickly diminishing workforce. The indigenous population, slaves at the time, were falling ill to many of the diseases brought by the colonists, or dying in resistance battles. Also, the lack of abundant mineral resources and the fact that the richest soils were found deep in the heart of the country (the Central Valley), severely hindered the colonization effort. All these circumstances made Costa Rica, the southernmost province in the Captaincy General of Guatemala, the poorest and most irrelevant region. However, the colonists that braved the hard trip in the Central Valley had established a provincial capital Cartago in 1563.

The agreable climate and fertile grounds in the highlands let the colony survive, but the colony remained a backwater for the next 150 years.

(via Wikipedia)

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