CARTAGO, the second city of Costa Rica, Central America, I2m. E. of San Jose on the main line of the Costa Rica railway at an altitude of 4,93oft. above sea-level. The population in 1927 was 7,143. Cartago lies on the plateau of San Jose at the base of the Irazu volcano (11,2ooft.) and is the first city reached by the traveller after leaving the Caribbean coast at Port Limon, 92m. to the east. The climate is subtropical; the temperature averages about 68°. The town is in the heart of the coffee region of Costa Rica and is one of the oldest cities in Central America. It has been visited by various earthquakes and almost destroyed a number times, the last disturbance in 1920 being accompanied by fire. In 5723 water in the crater of Irazii was loosed on the city by an earthquake and in 1841 a severe earthquake destroyed many of the oldest buildings. The ancient churches are still in existence, however, and some of the older government buildings. The town was founded by the Spaniard Vazquez de Coronado in 1522, the present name dating from 1563. It was the capital of Costa Rica until 1823 when the seat of the government was trans ferred to San Jose. The town lies on the main highway to the Caribbean coast, not always passable by automobiles, but one of the oldest highways in Central America, and it is also on the main line of the Costa Rica railway which was built to Cartago from San Jose in 1871. Famous hot mineral springs are situated in Bella Vista, a suburb of Cartago. The chief industry is coffee growing in the volcanic soil, the type of land in which the most famous of the Central American coffees are cultivated.