Webcam Santa Cruz. Avellanas Beach
Santa Cruz is a district of Costa Rica and the capital of the canton of the same name in the province of Guanacaste in the northwest of the country. Santa Cruz is just a few kilometers from the Pacific Ocean and has a population of 21,544 (as of 2011).
The city was founded in 1782 and was originally called Las Delicias. Bernabela Ramos Sequeira, wife of the town's founder, hung a large wooden cross outside her home. Every year a rosary was read in honor of this cross, and soon after this custom became very attractive to the people of the region, so it was decided to rename the city of Las Delicias to Santa Cruz.
The city of Santa Cruz is known as the "Ciudad folclórica" of Costa Rica. Every year in the first decade of January there is a traditional folk festival, which attracts thousands of tourists from all over the country. During the first days of the festival, folk dances, theater and cabaret with concerts of the traditional marimba (a musical instrument similar to a xylophone, typical of the folk culture of the province of Guanacaste) will be presented in Bernabela Ramos Sequeira Park. During the last days of the festival, an arena will be built and a rodeo will be held in the city's main square, Plaza de los Mangos.
