- Grecia
Grecia translated means Greece, the country, and Greece being named after the Goddess of beauty from the Roman Empire.
Grecia is the capital city of the canton of Grecia in the province of Alajuela in
Costa Rica . It is also the name of the distrito (district) that includes the city. The district of Grecia covers an area of 6.86 km²,Instituto Geográfico Nacional (IGN), 2001.] and has a population of 15,457. [Estimates of Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos (INEC), May 2003.]The city lies at an elevation of 999 meters above sea level in the foothills of the Cordillera Central on the eastern edge of the Central Valley (Valle Central). The city, which was once named "the cleanest city in Latin America," is 20 kilometers northwest of the provincial capital city of Alajuela, 27 kilometers from
Juan Santamaria International Airport , and 45 kilometers from the national capital city of San Jose.Grecia is noted for its unique church, Iglesia de la Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes, that is made entirely of pre-fabricated steel plates painted red. According to the
urban legend , the church was donated by some foreign country, and sent toGreece as a gift, but was wrongly shipped to Grecia.References
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