San Lorenzo Castle and San Gerónimo Fort

Colón and Portobelo, Panama
1595--1770 and 1653--1760
Beginning in the early sixteenth century, the Spanish and British campaigned intensely to control existing colonies and win new ones in the Caribbean. San Lorenzo Castle and San Gerónimo Fort are among the many fortifications that once protected Panama's Caribbean coast. Most of the forts reveal progressive European architectural and engineering influences. When the Spanish established San Lorenzo in 1595 as a depot for gold shipments from Mesoamerica to Spain, they chose a rocky site above the mouth of the Chagres River. Its ruins include the castle fortress, a military lunette, and high battery, all built over a 200-year-period. San Gerónimo was built in the seventeenth century as an Italian-style polygonal fortress to which was added in the mid-eighteenth century a long, low battery of French style. An American Express grant will help support a model stabilization project in cooperation with local authorities. At this critical time, with Panama assuming full control of the area, additional maintenance is required, including removal of vegetation, rectifying water erosion, and protecting the monuments from exposure. The Fortifications of Portobelo and San Lorenzo are on the World Heritage List.

Listed in 1998