Pre-Columbian Gold Museum

Housed underground beneath the Plaza de la Cultura in central San Jose, this museum holds one of Latin America's finest collections of pre-Columbian gold. Owned by the central bank, it displays over a thousand gold objects, including animal figures, ornaments and shamanic amulets crafted by indigenous goldsmiths. Exhibits explain metalworking techniques and the social meaning of gold in ancient Costa Rica. The complex also contains a coin museum and rotating art shows.