Juan Santamaría Statue

About the Juan Santamaría Statue

Alajuela is Costa Rica's second-largest city, home to the statue of Juan Santamaría - the national hero of Costa Rica. This monument honors the young drummer boy who sacrificed his life in 1856 during the Battle of Rivas against William Walker's filibusters. Santamaría has become a symbol of Costa Rican courage and national identity, and the city celebrates him annually on April 11th, a national holiday.

Alajuela honors its native son Juan Santamaría, a drummer born there around 1831 who died on April 11, 1856, at the Battle of Rivas during Costa Rica's campaign against William Walker's filibusters. The bronze monument showing him advancing with a torch was made by the French sculptor Aristide Onésime Croisy and unveiled on September 15, 1891, in the park that carries his name in the city center. The story that he volunteered to set fire to the filibusters' shelter and was shot doing so rests on later accounts and is treated by historians as partly legendary. Today the statue anchors Alajuela's April 11 commemorations, a national holiday, and the nearby Juan Santamaría museum.