The Central Valley, A world apart

Located on the north side of San José’s bustling city center, Barrio Amón is a tranquil oasis of restored Victorian style mansions and intimate bed & breakfasts and boutiques featuring a rich blend of 19th and 20th century history and architecture. A walk through this pleasant section of San José will allow you to admire striking architectural elements as well as experience the grandiose charm of a bygone era.

At the end of the 19th century, the French coffee baron and businessman, Amon Fasileau Duplantier, arrived in Costa Rica as a representative of the respected Tournón company. On the north side of what is today barrio Amón, he set up a large productive coffee plantation which exported the “golden grain” to European markets. In 1892 the French coffee baron proposed to urbanize a piece of land on the northern border of the city. Mr. Fasileau met with San José’s municipal authorities and a contract was signed that stipulated that the city would not be obligated to pay for the construction of streets and sidewalks until houses were built. The neighborhood quickly attracted Costa Rica’s wealthiest residents who began building elegant homes in a variety of styles such as Victorian, neo classic and eclectic.
The creation of this new neighborhood, called Amón, was the beginning of a new process of social and architectural segregation in the suburbs of the city and consolidated this area as the first elite residential neighborhood in San José.

Over the years, as the city’s residents began to move to the fringes of San José and eventually to the suburbs, many of the city’s residential districts fell into abandonment. At the beginning of the 1990’s many people and institutions began highlighting the importance of preserving the neighborhood’s architectural heritage. A number of the older houses were restored and turned into Bed & breakfasts, the Association for the Conservation and Development of Barrio Amón was founded and pressure was exerted on the city to divert to other areas, the large quantity of smoke ejecting buses that had traditionally passed through the neighborhood.

Today, the area has once again regained some of its old world elegance and is home to cozy hotels, restaurants, cafés, art galleries and antique shops - making Barrio Amón a very special spot in San José.

To get there, walk five blocks north of the Plaza de la Cultura (located next to the National Theater), or a block north of the towering Auriola Holiday Inn. Barrio Amón is bordered on the north by Avenida 13, to the south by Avenida 7, to the east by calle 9 and to the west by calle Central.
Thanks to www.infocostarica.com