There are not many cities in Costa Rica older than Cartago Cartago was founded in 1563 by Juan Vasquez de Coronado a Spanish conquistador who nevertheless gained a reputation for fairness and maintaining peaceful relations with the indigenous population perhaps because there was no gold or silver that needed to be mined in this part of Central America Cartago was the capital of Costa Rica until 1823 when the country s first elected president decided that the nearby city of San Jos was more suitable for political purposes Nevertheless land for sale in Cartago Costa Rica is plentiful because this city is still one of the largest in the country with over 150 000 inhabitants in the city and thousands more in its suburbs Cartago s economy is based on agriculture technology and tourism
Tourists come to Cartago for a variety of reasons The city is only 24 miles from Iriz Volcano and the surrounding Iriz Volcano National Park Irizu has five craters at its summit with one crater home to a spectacular green lake which owes its color to the types of gases escaping from within the volcano The National Park consists of a variety of forested land which is home to small mammals such as armadillos and foxes no exotic jaguars here and woodpeckers and hummingbirds Cartago land is for sale throughout the city and is zoned for a variety of purposes so businesspeople or people looking for land on which to build their own home can find much of interest here
