Archivo Nacional de Costa Rica (ANCR)

Overview

The Archivo Nacional de Costa Rica (ANCR) is a decentralized institution of the Ministry of Culture and Youth, charged with gathering, organizing, preserving, and providing access to Costa Rica's documentary heritage. It serves as the governing body of the National Archives System and is located in Zapote, in the San José metropolitan area.

History

The institution was created by Decree No. 25 of July 23, 1881, under the government of Salvador Lara, largely through the efforts of historian León Fernández Bonilla, to safeguard civil, criminal, ecclesiastical, military, and treasury records. Its first home was a rented private house; it later moved to the National Palace (1883-1889), then to the building of the former Universidad de Santo Tomás until 1957, and then to the Edificio María Cristina in downtown San José. Law No. 3661 of January 4, 1966 gave the institution its current name, and Law No. 7202 of October 24, 1990 established the National Archives System, making the ANCR the country's largest historical archive and its governing authority. The archive's own purpose-built headquarters in Zapote, first envisioned in 1934, opened in stages beginning April 23, 1993, with subsequent construction phases completed in 1998, 2013, and 2017.

Collections, Holdings, and Publications

The ANCR comprises three national archives open to the public: the Historical, Notarial, and Intermediate archives, along with the National Commission for Document Selection and Disposal. The Archivo Histórico holds documents dating to 1539 across roughly 300 documentary funds (93 public, 16 private, and 25 personal), more than 220,000 photographs, and 53,000 maps and plans, consultable in more than 7 linear kilometers of records. The institution has published the Revista del Archivo Nacional since 1936.

Access and Usage

The public can consult historical records at the José Luis Coto Conde reading room, request notarial documents (original, microfilmed, or digitized) through the Archivo Notarial, and access government records transferred through the Archivo Intermedio. The ANCR is active in the International Council on Archives and the Latin American Association of Archives.