Chagres and Fort San Lorenzo

Chagres (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈtʃaɣɾes]), once the chief Atlantic port on the isthmus of Panama, is now an abandoned village at the historical site of Fort San Lorenzo (Spanish: Fuerte de San Lorenzo). The fort's ruins and the village site are located about 8 miles (13 km) west of Colón, on a promontory overlooking the mouth of the Chagres River.

In 1502, during his fourth and final voyage, Christopher Columbus discovered the Chagres River.

By 1534, the Monarchy of Spain had, following its conquest of Peru, established a rainy-season gold route over the isthmus of Panama—Camino Real de Cruces—using mule trains and the Chagres River. The trail connected the Pacific port of Panama City to the mouth of the Chagres, from whence Peru's plunder would sail to Spain's storehouses in the leading Atlantic ports of the isthmus: Nombre de Dios, at first; and, later, Portobelo. (The dry-season, overland route—the Camino Real—connected Panama City with those ports directly.)

Attracted to the treasure, pirates began attacking Panama's coast around 1560. To protect the Atlantic terminus of Las Cruces Trail (Camino Real de Cruces), Spain built Fort San Lorenzo at the Chagres River's mouth. The work began in 1598 by order of King Philip II. From 1587 to 1599, the fortifications evolved into a sea-level battery and they were completed in 1601. The plans of the massive fortress were made by the Italian engineer Baptist Antonelli. The castle of San Lorenzo was built on top of a high reef, in a position that dominated the entrance of the Chagres River.

In 1670, buccaneer Henry Morgan ordered an attack that left Fort San Lorenzo in ruins. He invaded Panama City the following year, using San Lorenzo as his base of operations.

In the 1680s, the Spanish constructed a new fort 80 feet (24 m) above the water. Set on a cliff overlooking the entrance to the harbor, the fort was protected on the landward side by a dry moat with a drawbridge. During this time, the town of Chagres was established under the protection of the fort.

In 1739 and 1740, British Admiral Edward Vernon attacked the Spanish fortifications at Portobelo and Chagres. With the Bourbon Reforms, Spain had mostly abandoned trade at Portobelo, instead strengthening its fortifications at Chagres, and, upstream, Gatun. With the decline of Portobelo, Chagres surpassed it as the chief Atlantic port of the isthmus.

Text adapted from “Chagres and Fort San Lorenzo” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Chagres and Fort San Lorenzo ranks #1,343 of 7,738 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #1 of the 5 mapped in Panama. Founded 1590, it is older than 34% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 718 atlas entries founded in the 16th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 2,743 times in the last 60 days, more than 73% of the atlas. See how Panama compares in the castle statistics.

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