San Marcos

San Marcos is a city in Costa Rica. San Marcos de Tarrazu is located in the north bank of the Pirris River, in a highland valley surrounded by mountains that are part of the Talamanca Sierra in southern Costa Rica. Downtown San Marcos is 1350 meters above sea level but is surrounded by peaks as high as 3000 meters above sea level. Its geography is suited to growing coffee, mostly because the slopes of the mountains face the morning light and the cloud cover protects the coffee trees in the afternoon. The red soil found in the valley is of volcanic origin. All this plus the altitude make ideal conditions to grow the coffees harvested by locals. The Tarrazu county or canton is divided in 3 districts: San Marcos de Tarrazu, San Lorenzo, and San Carlos. The first district is the commerce center of the entire valley. You can find coffee processing mills, coffee roasting facilities, pizza parlors, restaurants, a hospital, city hall, several elementary schools and the county high school. Most cultural activities in the county are held in the central district. Traditionally, cultural and economic progress have been directly tied to the coffee industry. More recently, however, tourism and other agricultural products, plus money sent by locals forced to immigrate to New Jersey, USA, have created more economic development in certain parts of the county. Area Code: