Held every April, Juan Santamaría Day commemorates the Costa Rican victory in the Battle of Rivas in 1856 against the U.S. citizen William Walker and his mercenary army. After overthrowing the ...

Juan Santamaría Day is a Costa Rican holiday to remember the Battle of Rivas in 1856 and the heroic action of Juan Santamaría, a common soldier from Alajuela who saved the battle and Costa Rica’s ...