Sanatorio Durán (El Sanatorio)

Sanatorio Durán (also presented as El Sanatorio, Sanatorio Duran, Carlos Durán Sanatorium) is a former tuberculosis hospital and now-abandoned hospital complex near Cartago, often described as being in the shadow of Irazú Volcano. Sources consistently identify it as a former sanatorium and as an abandoned, decaying site that attracts photographers, tourists, and media attention. The complex served as a filming location for the 2010 Costa Rican found-footage horror-comedy film El Sanatorio, and it appears frequently in travel features, photo essays, and cultural compilations focused on 'haunted' or spooky places in Costa Rica. Reported claims about the site are primarily reputation-based: travel guides, news outlets and folkloric media characterize Sanatorio Durán as one of Costa Rica's most infamous haunted locations and feature it in discussions of ghost stories and local mysteries. Radio and podcast programming (for example, Voces del Misterio episode Nº1010) and dark-ambient music compilations have also treated the sanatorium as an emblematic haunted site. The available sources do not provide detailed, named eyewitness accounts of specific supernatural events, nor do they identify particular entities associated with the location. Rather, the site's history as a medical facility, its abandoned and decayed condition, and its evocative atmosphere are repeatedly cited in popular discourse as the basis for its haunted reputation and tourist appeal. Documentary and travel coverage indicate the site is visited by the public and photographed for its eerie appearance; one travel listing gives visiting hours (daily 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.), though that specific detail is not corroborated across all sources. There is no supplied documentation in these sources regarding construction or operation dates, ownership changes, formal investigations establishing paranormal phenomena, or official restrictions or demolition.