The Cathedral de la Mercedes is the centerpiece of this small city northwest of San Jose. The church at the center of the small city of Grecia is made entirely of metal, and is a century old. The parishoner's decided to construct their church of metal after two previous churches had been destroyed. The first church, was made of brick and adobe, but was destroyed by a strong earthquake. Shortly after that church was rebuilt, this time of wood, it burned to the ground. Therefore, it was decided that the third church would not be built of materials so easily destroyed, and the order was placed for a church made of iron that would resist earthquakes, and could not burn.
The story goes that Grecians commissioned a European architect to design a church for them of metal. The plans approved, orders where submitted to have the pieces of this church to be prepared and shipped to Costa Rica, from northern Europe. However, when all the metal pieces arrived in Limon on the Caribbean coast, the money was used up shipping them to Grecia. The pieces were stored at various places in Coasta Rica, until finally, after about a decade, the parishoner's commissioned the architect to come to Costa Rica (to Grecia) to supervise its construction.
The Cathedral de la Mercedes is a gothic style church made from metal pieces that were imported from Belgium in the 1890’s. This church is as beautiful from the inside as it is impressive from the outside.
Sarchi is a small town not far from Grecia, and is the center for the manufacturing and painting of the traditional Costa Rican ox cart. Sarchi is also a very popular shopping town for Costa Rican's and tourists alike.
