La Trinidad

About La Trinidad:

La Trinidad fills the middle of the canton of Moravia. San Vicente, the canton’s centre, lies to the south, San Jerónimo to the northeast and Vázquez de Coronado to the east, while on the west the Río Virilla separates it from Santo Domingo, already in Heredia. Ruta 220, a national road of just over seven kilometres, links Coronado with Santo Domingo through the district and crosses the Virilla on the way to Paracito. Two bus lines run to San José: the San José–La Trinidad de Moravia service, which ends at the sports field in El Alto de la Trinidad, and the San José–Moravia–Los Sitios line, whose terminal stands beside the Escuela Los Sitios. For the municipal offices and the canton’s main shopping streets, people head south to San Vicente.

The cabecera still carries the old name, Guayabal, and the district was first called Trinidad before the article was added. It became a district on 24 March 1950, when it had fewer than 700 inhabitants. By 1984 there were 5,616, by 2000 almost 14,000 and at the 2011 census 19,767, which puts the density at around 4,000 people per square kilometre. The barrios that absorbed that growth include Los Sitios, Altos de Trinidad, Altívar, Cipreses, Colonia, El Níspero, Las Flores, Moral, Rosal, Ruano, Tanques, Virilla and Vista Azul.

Daily life runs on the district’s own schools and the roads between them. The Escuela de La Trinidad and the Escuela de Los Sitios teach primary, and the Liceo Experimental Bilingüe La Trinidad opened in El Alto in 1996 with a grant from the Spanish government, joining the national network of experimental bilingual secondary schools. The district sits at about 1,265 metres and the ground climbs toward El Alto, so many streets are steep and many lots are cut into several levels. That slope gives the upper houses their views, and it also makes a retaining wall part of the cost of building there.

The district is almost entirely residential, and most of it was settled by families during the decades of fast growth. Today they share it with people who work elsewhere in the metropolitan area and with landlords who own a few units to let in Los Sitios. Along the main road, some properties carry a mixed land use that allows a business as well as a home. Moravia’s municipality sets what can be built on each parcel, so ask for the certificado de uso de suelo before you make an offer.

Houses in La Trinidad:

Los Sitios, built in stages, is the most common entry point: three-bedroom houses of around 120 square metres, often with one bathroom and parking at the front. In the condominiums the houses are newer and larger. Altívar, in Los Sitios, has three-bedroom, three-bathroom homes with parking for two cars on lots of about 230 square metres, La Pradera has two-storey block houses of about 160 square metres, and Reserva Trinidad sits on Calle Ruano. Up in El Alto there are also single-storey houses on lots of more than 300 square metres. If you are comparing houses for sale in La Trinidad de Moravia, expect the older Los Sitios houses to sit at the lower end of the range and condominium houses above them.

Rentals in La Trinidad:

Apartments are mainly a rental product here. Small condominiums such as Las Brumas offer two-bedroom, one-bathroom units of about 58 square metres with a parking space, and there are larger three-bedroom apartments with a study, some of them furnished. Rents are quoted by the month in colones, and houses in Los Sitios and the condominiums are let to families on the same terms. When you look at apartments for rent in La Trinidad, ask whether water and the condominium fee are included and how far the unit is from the Los Sitios or El Alto bus stop.

Land and Lots in La Trinidad:

Two kinds of land come up. Residential lots of 150 to 330 square metres sit on existing streets or inside condominiums, and the occasional large parcel of more than 1,000 square metres fronts the main road with mixed land use. Ask whether the lot is titled and has its plano catastrado before anything else. On sloping ground, budget for earthworks and a retaining wall, and get a written letter confirming water availability before you pay a deposit, because without it the municipality will not issue a building permit.

New Developments in La Trinidad:

Teruma is the district’s lot condominium. Its plots are about 330 square metres with 16 metres of frontage, many of them on several levels, which can give a house a view, and owners are free to build to their own design. The shared areas include a heated pool, a clubhouse with a rancho, a gym, coworking space, a football pitch, a skate park and a playground. New houses ready to move into have started to appear inside Teruma, a way into the project for buyers who do not want to manage a build.

FAQ:

• Are Los Sitios and El Alto de la Trinidad part of La Trinidad?

  Yes. Both are barrios of La Trinidad, the third district of Moravia, postal code 11403. Ads sometimes say only “Moravia” or “Los Sitios de Moravia”, so check the district on the plano catastrado and on the property’s record at the Registro Nacional before you compare prices with San Vicente or San Jerónimo.

• What should I check before buying a sloping lot in La Trinidad?

  Start with water and the slope. Ask the water provider for a letter of availability, and have an engineer estimate the earthworks and retaining walls the lot will need. Then get the certificado de uso de suelo from the Municipalidad de Moravia and search the Registro Nacional (Registro Inmobiliario) for mortgages, liens or easements, and confirm that the boundaries on the ground match the plano catastrado.

• How do I get from La Trinidad to San José without a car?

  Two bus lines serve the district. The San José–La Trinidad de Moravia route ends at the sports field in El Alto, and the San José–Moravia–Los Sitios route ends beside the Escuela Los Sitios. Toward Santo Domingo and Heredia, Ruta 220 crosses the Virilla on the west side of the district.

• Which schools are in La Trinidad?

  The Escuela de La Trinidad and the Escuela de Los Sitios are the public primary schools. For secondary, the Liceo Experimental Bilingüe La Trinidad in El Alto has taught a bilingual programme since 1996. If a place at one of them matters to you, ask the school before you commit to a house nearby.