Nicoya

Nicoya is the capital of Nicoya canton on the Nicoya Peninsula in Guanacaste province, Costa Rica, and one of the oldest continuously settled towns in the country, taking its name from an indigenous Chorotega chief encountered by Spanish explorers in the early sixteenth century. The surrounding peninsula is recognized as one of the world's Blue Zones, regions identified for unusually high rates of longevity among their populations, attributed in part to diet, social structure and physical activity. Nicoya's colonial-era church, the Iglesia de San Blas, is among the oldest standing churches in Costa Rica.