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 oldest in the entire Western Hemisphere and declared a National Monument in 1941.source
How it look long ago....how it looks today...
This is such a beautiful old historic church...one of the treasures of Panama..so glad that Jim and I were able to see it on the way back from Boquete this week.
They had to replace the four bells as they were made out of solid gold and sacked by the Spanish...can you imagine how much those bells would be worth today and how they would of helped pay for the restoration of this church! Amazing!
1 comment:
Wow ... what a beautiful church ... I love visiting old churches myself ... great the you were able to check it out your way back ... see you soon ... !!! xoxo
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