Tico History

A fire Friday consumed most of the historic Black Star Line building in Costa Rica's Caribbean port city of Limón. The building was architectural heritage.

We chat with Abdénago Torres, or "Nago de Nicoya," about life, music and his beloved Sámara Beach, following his receipt of a UNESCO silver medal for his work as a pioneer in sharing Costa Rican culture with the world.

Costa Rica is better known today for the abolition of its army but the small country participated — briefly — in the “war to end all wars."

Monday marks the 26th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall and a piece of it can be seen here in San José. But how did it end up here?

In downtown San José, just west of the Cementerio de Obreros, sits a forgettable lot of urban real estate where the municipality and the Public Works and Transport Ministry park garbage trucks and heavy equipment. But on this same spot 73 years ago, an internment camp was erected by the government to hold hundreds of German-Costa Rican prisoners after the United States and Costa Rica entered World War II in December 1941.

Whether it belongs to a Pharaoh or commoner, a recently rediscovered tomb is fun to open. And recently, a couple of archaeologists got their chance in San Ramón, Costa Rica.