Beginning only four kilometers west of San José’s Parque Sabana, Escazú is officially part of metropolitan San José yet is so individualistic that it functions virtually as a sister city. The town, one of the oldest settlements in the country (and also among its most modern), is accessed by the Carretera Prospero Fernández (Hwy. 27), an expressway that passes north of Escazú and continues via Ciudad Colón to the Pacific lowlands.

There are actually three Escazús, each with its own church, patron saint, and character. San Rafael de Escazú is the ultramodern, congested lower town, nearest the freeway. Its once sleepy campesino-town ambience has been pushed aside by a wave of modern development, including chic restaurants, nightclubs and shopping plazas, plus condominium towers that have drawn scores of English-speaking expatriates. A beautiful old church stands here in colonial counterpoint.

San Rafael merges south to San Miguel de Escazú, about one kilometer uphill. San Miguel, the heart of old Escazú, was originally a crossroads on trails between indigenous villages. The indigenous folks gave it its name, Itzkatzu (Resting Place). A small chapel constructed in 1711 became the first public building. Here, time seems to have stood still for a century. The occasional rickety wooden oxcart weighed down with coffee beans comes to town, pulled by stately oxen. Cows wander along the road. And there are still a few cobblestone streets with houses of adobe, including those around the village plaza with its red-domed church, built in 1799 and painted with a traditional strip of blue color at the bottom to ward off witches. The church has a new frontage in modern style, with twin towers. It overlooks a new plaza—Parque República de Colombia.

Above San Miguel, the road climbs steadily to San Antonio de Escazú, a dairy and agricultural center beyond which the steep slopes are clad in coffee bushes and cloud forest. Above rises Monte La Cruz (topped by an imposing 15-meter-tall iron cross), Piedra Blanca, Cerro Rabo de Mico (the tallest at 2,455 m), and Cerro de Escazú, fluted with waterfalls.

CODECE (tel. 506/228-0183, codececr [at] racsa [dot] co [dot] cr) is a local conservation organization that works to preserve local traditions and protect the remaining forest from ever-encroaching urbanization. It offers cultural tours.

Getting There

Buses depart San José for Escazú from Avenida 1, Calle 18, every 15 minutes. The “Bebedero” bus departs San José from Calle 14, Avenida 6, for San Antonio de Escazú. And a bus for San Rafael de Escazú departs Calle 16, Avenidas Central/1.