Natá de los Caballeros

It is hard to believe that the sleepy town of Natá de los Caballeros, in the province of Coclé, was once more important than Panama City. As a matter of fact, when the old city of Panama was sacked and plundered by English pirate Sir Henry Morgan in 1671, this small community briefly shared duties as the country's colonial capital with Penonomé, 20 miles to the northeast, until the relocation of Panama City two years later.

Natá was founded early in the colonial period, in 1522. Its name ("de los Caballeros" is Spanish for "of the gentlemen") comes from the fact that the community's first European inhabitants were Spanish noblemen, sent to conquer a rich plain settled by a progressive, Native American nation. It is said that when the first Spanish came they found enough food in town to feed an army. The Spanish devoured a year's worth of supplies in only three months, married local princesses and blended their culture with that of their hosts to form the Mestizo population of Panama's interior provinces.

The main legacy of those times is the town's church, the Santiago Apostol Minor Basilica, the second oldest in the entire Western Hemisphere and declared a National Monument in 1941.

An average of 150 tourists visit the church every month. With its restoration, citizens of the town plan to make it a more popular tourist destination, perhaps by unblocking the colonial tunnels that link the church with a number of locations in and outside Natá.

Tourism in Coclé is growing. Guests of the major hotel resorts are starting to visit the once forgotten historical landmarks of the Natá region, which also includes El Caño outdoor museum, which displays artifacts and tombs of the ancient Native American residents of the area. Natá is located 183 km. west of Panama City, via the Pan-American Highway.