Turrialba occupies a vast region of the Caribbean slope, as well as more than half the territory of the province of Cartago. Surrounded by high mountains, between which rises an imposing volcano, the very humid valley in which the head of the canton is based is drained by abundant water courses, which flow into the mighty Reventazón River. Such a rugged geography, once full of dense forests, was inhabited by Indians who were often the victims of serious epidemics and, on a memorable occasion, of the humiliations of the Spanish colonizers, but they knew how to defend themselves with unusual fury.
To a large extent, its historical singularity was due to the need to have an adequate port to connect Costa Rica with Europe, which in turn depended on having a firm and reliable road between the Central Valley and the Caribbean coast. First was the rustic road to Matina (in colonial times), and in the mid-nineteenth century the attempt to build a road from the failed German colony in Angostura, on the banks of the Reventazón River. In both cases, the hamlet known as Turrialba ranch, and later as Colorado or Guadalupe, became an inescapable site of sesteo.
That is the reason that explains the presence, over 366 years -between 1544 and 1910-, of about 20 travelers and chroniclers, who left us a rich account of their volcano, mountains, rivers, flora and fauna, as well as its original inhabitants and the process of settlement that gave rise to the Guayabal, embryo of the current urban center of Turrialba. Your looks and your words are in this book.