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The territory that currently corresponds to the canton of Los Chiles according to the version of Don Norberto Castro y Tosi, was inhabited by indigenous Guatusos, who were the result of the union of votes, tices and catapas with numerous huetares who emigrated from the Central Valley. According to a study by Don Cleto González Víquez, the Guatusos are descendants of the Corobicí Indians; The latter occupied the territory between the Higuerón -or Las Lajas- and Tenorio rivers up to the Caribbean Sea, who at a certain point crossed the Sierra Minera de Tilarán and took refuge in the northern plains.



In 1857, during the second campaign against the filibusters, a path was opened that descended from the top of the Guanacaste Volcanic mountain range to the San Juan River, which was used for the movement of troops that cut off the use of the enemy. of the waterway. With this trip, soldiers and officers got to know the rich area covered, at that time, by virgin forest. Years later, cocoa plantations began to form in Los Bajos -now Villa Florencia- El Muelle and Boca Arenal in the current canton of San Carlos. The largest farm was the one located in Los Bajos, which was dedicated to the cultivation of coffee, livestock, exploitation of rubber or wild rubber. The owner of Los Bajos opened a picada in Los Chiles, near the Nicaraguan border to import cattle; In order to keep this communication route in service, in 1925 a tax was set for each head of cattle that passed through it.



The first Nicaraguans who arrived in the region, starting in the second half of the 19th century, by boat on the Frío River, did so in an attempt to extract the latex from the rubber trees that were abundant in the area in the wild. Some of them liked these lands so they returned with their families to settle in the region.



At the end of the 19th century, what today corresponds to the city of Los Chiles and surrounding areas, constituted a cattle ranch of the Carthaginian Don Francisco Solano. In the first decades of the 20th century, the Frío River was the only communication route that local residents had to San Carlos de la República Nicaragua, where they bought some groceries and basic items, and sold their products.



In Executive Decree No. 20 of October 18, 1915, on territorial division for administrative purposes, the Los Chiles hamlet formed part of the eighth district of the canton of Grecia. In the administrative territorial division of the Republic, promulgated by executive decree No. 26 of June 28, 1957, the tenth district of the aforementioned canton was the Los Chiles neighborhood and its hamlets. In the government of Mr. José Joaquín Trejos Fernández, in Law No. 4541, of March 17, 1970, the title of Villa was granted to the town of Los Chiles, head of the canton created at that time, later in Law No. 4574 of May 4 of the same year, the Municipal Code was promulgated, which in its third article gave the town the category of city, as it is the head of the canton.



The first school was established in 1926, in the second administration of Don Ricardo Jiménez Oreamuno; which at this time is called the Ricardo Vargas Murillo school. The Los Chiles Agricultural Professional Technical College began its teaching activities in 1972, in the second government of José Figueres Ferrer.



In 1949 the parochial coadjutoría was erected. During the archdiocese of Monsignor Don Carlos Humberto Rodríguez Quirós, fourth archbishop of Costa Rica, in 1970, the parish dedicated to San Francisco de Asís was created, which is currently suffragan of the Diocese of Alajuela in the ecclesiastical province of Costa Rica.



On August 11, 1970, the first session of the Los Chiles Council was held, made up of the proprietary councilors, Messrs. José Luis Jurado Pacheco, president, Sebastián Rocha Matus, and Bienvenido Duarte Sequeira. The municipal executive was Mr. Miguel Ángel Mora Bonilla and the municipal secretary, Mr. Marco Juárez Ibarra.



In relation to the origin of the name of the canton, there are two popular versions. One refers to the fact that the rubber workers who inhabited the region at the end of the 20th century built a straw winery to store supplies, today known as Los Chilitos; a place where on some occasions they prepared their meals, seasoned with chili peppers, so that the seeds that fell to the ground gave rise to a chilar, later the winery disappeared due to the action of time, but the chile plants became more numerous ; Over the years, the site began to be used as a point of reference by the inhabitants of the region, calling it Los Chiles.



The other version indicates that the huleros met in the place to tell their adventures, their anecdotes, their chilies, so they finally called the site Los Chiles.





Los Chiles is the capital of the canton of Los Chiles in the Alajuela province of Costa Rica. It is also the name of the district (district) that includes the city. The Los Chiles district covers an area of ​​535.93 km², [1] and has a population of 11,064. [2]



The city is located at an elevation of 43 meters above sea level [1] on the San Carlos Plain (Plain of San Carlos) in northern Costa Rica, 14 kilometers southeast of San Carlos in Nicaragua, 97 kilometers al northwest of Ciudad Quesada, 175 kilometers from the capital city of the province of Alajuela, and 198 kilometers from the national capital of San José.



Los Chiles is a "border city," only four kilometers from Nicaragua. The vast majority of the city's population was born in Nicaragua. The Río Frío, at the western end of the city, is a main road used to access small villages and farms in the surrounding area.



The city is also a center for agriculture and sport fishing. A gas station is located here, the only one for 20 kilometers in any direction, and a civil guard checkpoint is on Highway 35 south of the city. There is a bank and a couple of restaurants and basic booths for presentation.







Nearby places of interest

Caño Negro Wildlife Refuge: A watery lowland with lush swamps and marshes, a seasonal lake, and abundant wildlife. Boats can be hired in Los Chiles to travel the 23 kilometers down the Frío River to the Caño Negro lake within the reserve. The area is a bird watcher's paradise. Tours to Caño Negro de La Fortuna and the Arenal Volcano area come by bus to Los Chiles, where visitors embark with canopy for the trip down the Rio Frio, to the reserve. (29 kilometers southwest of Los Chiles, via Highway 4 to El Parque, then west to San Emilio, and southwest on Highway 138 to Caño Negro)



Solentiname: An archipelago in Lake Nicaragua. These islands are home to fishermen, farmers, and many painters and artisans. It is reached from Los Chiles, by traveling to the Río Frío from the city of San Carlos de Nicaragua, from where the cruise boats on the lake to the islands.

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