San Mateo: The Saint Behind Our Town's Name

Every September, the name San Mateo takes on special meaning here. It connects our corner of Costa Rica to a story reaching back nearly two thousand years, to Saint Matthew, the town's namesake.

A Story of Starting Over: In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus finds a tax collector named Matthew at his booth and simply says, "Follow me." Matthew gets up and leaves that life behind.

It's a striking detail because tax collectors were widely distrusted at the time. Whatever your own beliefs, the story that's endured for two thousand years is really about someone choosing to walk away from a familiar life to build a different one.

That Story, and Ours: That thread feels familiar here at Ecovilla San Mateo. Many of us arrived from somewhere else, having left behind homes, careers, and communities to build something new in Costa Rica. Our reasons and our paths differ, but there's something fitting about doing that in a town named for someone whose own story turned on a fresh start.

Our town's name follows a pattern common throughout Costa Rica: during the colonial era, settlements and churches were often named for Catholic saints, who became anchors for local identity. A saint's feast day often became one of the most important dates on the community calendar, and for San Mateo, that date is September 21.

Over generations, that observance grew into something bigger than religion alone: a day of Masses and processions, yes, but also music, food, and neighbors gathering together.

A Name Worth Knowing: San Mateo today is home to people of many backgrounds and beliefs. Even so, knowing the story behind the town's name offers a small window into the place we've chosen to call home.

It's worth knowing a little better, whatever brought each of us here.