Blue Room

Built in 1915 by Dr. Carlos Duran, the Duran Sanatorium’s mountainous location was deemed ideal for those suffering from consumption. It operated as a hospital for tuberculosis patients for many years, as well as an asylum for the mentally ill. After 1963, since tuberculosis was no longer an issue and the mentally ill could be treated in bigger, more humane hospitals, the Sanatorium ceased to be operational. For the following decade it  operated as an orphanage and, later, a maximum and a minimum security prison. The Duran Sanatorium shut down permanently in 1973 when it retained serious structural damage from an eruption of the nearby Irazu volcano.