Fodor's Expert Review Plaza del Banco Central

Downtown Plaza/Square

A widening of Avenida Central, this plaza is popular with hawkers, money changers, and retired men, and can be a good place to get a shoeshine and listen to street musicians. Outside the western end of Costa Rica's modern federal reserve bank building, don't miss Presentes, 10 smaller-than-life sculpted figures of bedraggled campesinos (peasants). La Chola, a bronze statue of a buxom rural woman, resides at sidewalk level on the small, shady plaza south of the bank. It's public art at its best. Beware: the money changers here are notorious for circulating counterfeit bills and using doctored calculators to shortchange unwitting tourists. Avoid them.

Plaza/Square

Quick Facts

Bordered by Avdas. Ctl.–1 and Cs. 2–4
San José, San José  10102, Costa Rica

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