Orosi Church & Religious Art Museum, Cartago

The Orosi Church, located in the Orosi River Valley, is Costa Rica's oldest still-functioning church. Orosi Church, erected by Franciscan monks in the colonial era in 1743, has adobe walls that have withstood several major earthquakes. Painted and carved wooden statues and altarpieces adorn the baroque interior. Outside the church, there is a religious art museum with a collection of relics and paintings.

The temple door of the Orosi Church opens to the rising sun, which is unusual among churches, which normally face West. According to history, the Franciscans carried a picture of Saint Joseph on their shoulders while striking a silver bell when they arrived in Orosi with the Talamanca Indians. The bell did not ring when they arrived at the boiling hot spring in the highlands. As a result, they erected the church right away. Floods wrecked the church numerous times after it was built. The Franciscans ultimately realized, after many prayers, that the church could not be built in the traditional manner because Saint Joseph desired to face Talamanca.

Location: Cartago, Costa Rica