The Colonial Transisthmian Route of Panamá
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How it came to be
From the 16th century the Isthmus of Panama carried people and goods between Spain and its colonies in the Americas, the Philippines and the Canary Islands. Pedro Arias Dávila founded Panama City on the Pacific coast on 15 August 1519, and at about the same time the stone-paved Camino Real was built to Nombre de Dios on the Caribbean side. Gold and silver from Peru crossed it by mule, with records suggesting 100 to 200 tonnes of silver a year.
A second road, the Camino de Cruces, followed around 1530. It ran overland from Panama City to Venta de Cruces on the Chagres River, where travellers and cargo took boats down to Fort San Lorenzo at the river mouth. In 1597 the Caribbean port moved to Portobelo and the Camino Real was redirected there. After Panama City was sacked and burned in 1671, it was rebuilt a few kilometres to the west and the roads were re-routed to the new site.
Following the fall of Portobelo in 1739 the crossings declined, and once the Panama Railroad opened in 1855 they were abandoned. The World Heritage site has six parts, including Panama City, the fortifications of Portobelo and San Lorenzo, and sections of the two roads.
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