Cartago, Costa Rica (original) (raw)

Cartago is a city in Costa Rica, about 15 miles east of San Jos�. It is at an elevation of about 4930 feet (some 1500 meters) above sea level on the Cartago River, at the base of the Iraz� volcano. Cartago is capital of Costa Rica's Cartago Province. In 1997 the city of Cartago had a population of 122,605 people.

Cartago was founded in 1563 by Spanish conquistador Juan V�squez de Coronado, and was the first permanent Spanish settlement in Costa Rica.

Cartago was the capital of Costa Rica until 1823.

The city was severely dammaged by a major earthquake in 1841.