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Panama’s Exciting Past!

By AndrewGW ⋅ July 8, 2008 ⋅  Email This Post ⋅ ⋅ Post a comment

Over the next few weeks, I will provide a brief overview of Panama’s colorful history. The text for these few posts is excerpted with permission from Location Panama with permission of the editor.

The adventure story that is the history of Panama tells of vast treasures; of conflicts between empires; of daring fortune-hunters; of dreams both realized and unfulfilled; of tremendous success and total failure.

Fort San Jeronimo, one of the many Spanish forts established on the Caribbean coast.

After Columbus set foot on the isthmus during his fourth voyage in 1502, the Spanish claimed the area for the Spanish crown and in 1510 created the first permanent settlement in the New World at Nombre de Dios on the Caribbean coast. Shortly afterwards, Vasco Nuñez de Balboa fought his way through the thick jungle to arrive on the Pacific coast where in 1519 the original city of Panama was founded becoming the first Spanish city on the western coast of the Americas and the launching point for the conquest of Peru. It was from here that the Camino Real or Royal Road was built linking the two coasts. A few years later another road was built, El Camino de Cruces linking Panama with the Caribbean using the Chagres River. At the terminus this route Fort San Lorenzo was built and the ruins of this fort can still be visited today. This road served the Spanish for over 300 years hauling plundered treasure in one direction and trade goods in the other.

Throughout this time the Spanish were beleaguered by English and Dutch pirates, especially Sir Francis Drake and Henry Morgan. Drake was responsible for sacking Nombre de Dios and causing the Spanish to move to Portbelo in 1597 as this was a more easily defended harbor. Portobelo flourished as the main port of the Spanish Main and until the early 18th century was the site of an annual trading fair that took place when the fleet arrived from Spain. Today you can visit the old forts and the reconstructed Customs House where millions of dollars worth of plundered gold and silver were stored before being loaded onto the galleons and shipped to Spain.

In 1671, Henry Morgan crossed the isthmus and ransacked and burned Panama resulting in the building of a new town site on what is now called Casco Antiguo or Colonial Panama. Within its heavy stone walls religious, military and civilian buildings were constructed along with seven bastions to protect against pirate attacks. The area has seen many architectural influences over the years with many classic buildings that have been or are being renovated. Along with Panama Viejo, this area has been classified as a World Heritage site by UNESCO.

Tags: history of panama, Panama, panama viejo, portobelo, spanish