The small town of Santa Cruz in the Province of Cartago is a destination not often visited, but for every one who wants to step outside the well traveled paths it is certainly a wise choice. Santa Cruz offers easy access to two wonderful Costa Rican attractions. First of all there is the National Monument of Guayabo, the only and most extensive pre-Colombian archaeological site in Costa Rica, where many artifacts were excavated which can be seen in the National Museum in San Jose. It’s a protected area of more than 215 hectares of pre-mountainous rain forest enclosing the approximately 20 hectare historic site. Remains of a mysterious Indigenous culture in the form of paved streets, aqueducts, water reservoirs, monoliths and tombs withstood the tooth of time for more than 3,000 years. The other attraction close to Santa Cruz is the National Park of Turrialba with its impressive volcano. The Turrialba volcano is hardly active and has three wide craters. It is safe to climb the crater. Your efforts will be rewarded by magnificent views on the surroundings. The National Park of the Turialba Volcano is not as well visited as the other volcanoes in the Central Valley like the Irazu and Poas. But the area around Santa Cruz has a very interesting combination to offer in the form of the beautiful manmade historic site of the National Monument of Guayabo and the natural beauty of a volcanic environment sculpted by the forces of nature.