Natá de los Caballeros

Natá was founded in 1522, which makes it among the oldest surviving European-founded towns on the American mainland, and its church of Santiago Apóstol was begun the same year. 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.

History

Natá was founded by the Spanish on 20 May 1522, the third oldest surviving town in Panama after Nombre de Dios and Panama City; its full name honours the local cacique Anata and the hundred Spanish knights, los caballeros, quartered here. Its church, believed to date from the 16th century, claims to be the oldest still standing on the mainland, and its roof was recently repaired with hard níspero wood (Wikipedia, Natá, Coclé).

The main sights

• 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.

What to expect

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.