3 Best Sights in San Jose, Costa Rica

San José's starkly modern Jade Museum displays the world's largest collection of the green gemstone. The holdings log in at 5,000-plus pieces, and are, in a word, amazing. Nearly all the items on display were produced in pre-Columbian times, and most of the jade (pronounced HAH-day in Spanish) dates from 300 BC to AD 700. A series of drawings explains how this extremely hard stone was cut using string saws with quartz-and-sand abrasive. Jade was sometimes used in jewelry designs, but it was most often carved into oblong pendants. The museum also has other pre-Columbian artifacts, such as polychrome vases and three-legged metates (small stone tables for grinding corn), as well as a gallery of modern art. Also included on display is a startling exhibition of ceramic fertility symbols. While the collection is undeniably fabulous, the pieces may begin to look the same after a time. Let your own tastes and interests guide you in how much time you spend here.

This dazzling modern museum in a three-story underground structure beneath the stark plaza north of the Teatro Nacional contains Central America's largest collection of pre-Columbian gold jewelry—20,000 troy ounces in more than 1,600 individual pieces—all owned by the Banco Central (the country's central bank) and displayed attractively in bilingual exhibits. Many pieces are in the form of frogs and eagles, two animals perceived by the region's early cultures to have great spiritual significance. A spiffy illumination system makes the pieces sparkle. All that glitters here is not gold: most spectacular are the various shaman figurines, which represent the human connection to animal deities. One of the halls houses the Museo Numismática (Coin Museum), a repository of historic coins and bills and other objects used as legal tender throughout the country's history. Rotating art exhibitions happen on another level.

The National Theater is Costa Rica at its most enchanting. Chagrined that touring prima donna Adelina Patti bypassed San José in 1890 for lack of a suitable venue, wealthy coffee merchants raised import taxes and hired Belgian architects to design this building, lavish with cast iron and Italian marble. Soft, illuminated coppers, golds, and whites highlight the theater's exterior nightly from 6 pm to 5 am.

The sumptuous neo-baroque interior is of interest, too. Given the provenance of the building funds, it's not surprising that frescoes on the stairway inside depict coffee and banana production. Note Italian painter Aleardo Villa's famous ceiling mural Alegoría del Café y Banano (Allegory of Coffee and Bananas), a joyful harvest scene that appeared on Costa Rica's old 5-colón note. You can see the theater's interior by attending one of the performances that take place several nights a week; intermission gives you a chance to nose around. Stop at the boletería (box office), just off the lobby, and see what strikes your fancy. Ticket prices are a fraction of what you'd pay at a similar stateside venue. Don't worry if you left your tuxedo or evening gown back home; as long as you don't show up for a performance wearing shorts, jeans, or a T-shirt, no one will care.

For a fee you can also move beyond the lobby for a guided tour in Spanish and English; offered hourly on the hour from 9 until 4 daily, except at noon. If you're downtown on a Tuesday from March through November, take in one of the Teatro al Mediodía (Theater at Midday) performances that begin at 12:10 pm. It might be a chamber-music recital or a one-act play in Spanish.