During his voyages to what was to be called the New World, Cristopher Columbus arrived to Costa Rica on September 18, 1502, on his fourth and last trip, accompanied by his brother Bartolome and his son Hernando. He landed in a place called Cariay, in the nearby area of what is today the city of Limon on the Caribbean side of the country. He was warmly welcomed by the inhabitants of the area.
There are several legends on the reason why he called this land Costa Rica (literally rich coast). Some accounts say that he found the area so beautiful and so abundant in natural resources that he called a rich coast. Others say that during his stay in the area he saw the locals wearing articles of gold, and assuming that the area was abundant in the mineral called it rich coast.
The conquering of the lands of what is nowadays Costa Rica started in 1519 with the participation of Juan de Castañeda and Hernan Ponce de Leon, the first adventures taking place on the Pacific Coast of the country, and mainly in the area of Nicoya.