Natá de los Caballeros

Natá was founded in 1520, which makes it among the oldest surviving European-founded towns on the American mainland, and its church of Santiago Apóstol was begun two years later. The building that stands now is largely later, rebuilt over centuries, but it holds an extraordinary interior: baroque altarpieces in carved and gilded wood made by local craftsmen, including one to the Virgin whose columns are wrapped in vines and carved with indigenous faces, a piece that has been studied for what it says about who was actually doing the work. The town around it is small, quiet and largely unvisited despite sitting on the main highway.

What you actually see

• The 1522 church - among the oldest in continuous use on the mainland.
• The carved altarpieces - gilded wood by local craftsmen.
• The Virgin's altar - vines and indigenous faces worked into the columns.
• The town - quiet, small and rarely visited.

When to go

December to April is the dry season. The church keeps regular hours and closes for services and at midday. It takes about an hour. It sits directly on the Pan-American Highway, so it is easy to fit into a drive west.

Honest expectations

The town has very little else and an hour covers the visit. The church has been rebuilt repeatedly so almost nothing of the 1522 fabric is visible. It closes over the middle of the day. There is minimal interpretation and none in English.

Nearby

Penonomé is twenty minutes east; El Valle is an hour and a half.