Simmering volcanoes dominate the landscape of the Central Highlands – a broad valley at an altitude of around 3,300 ft (1,000 m). The mild climate and fertile soils of the meseta central (central plateau) attracted pre-Columbian peoples around 7000 BC, although their most evolved community – Guayabo – was mysteriously abandoned before the arrival of early Spanish settlers in the mid-1500s. In 1563, Juan Vázquez de Coronado founded Cartago, which remained the colonial capital until 1823. Over the next two centuries, the region remained a colonial backwater centered around farming communities near Heredia and Orosí. The region’s fortunes changed in 1779 with the introduction of coffee from Jamaica, and following independence in 1830, the grano de oro (golden bean) became the region’s foremost export, leading to the rise of a merchant class of coffee barons by the end of the century.