Lots of bloody battles?: Check. Great subjects for photographs?: Check. Hardly anyone else around?: Check.
The Spanish built Fort San Lorenzo at great expense on a promontory at the mouth of the Chagres River, to guard the Caribbean end of the main travel route across the Isthmus. It was attacked several times, and taken a few times. Some of the cannons on the site are British.
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| View of Fort San Lorenzo from the site of Chagres. |
Spain departed the fort in 1821. It served as prison for some years before being abandoned. During the California Gold Rush, curious travelers stopped at the town of Chagres would make their way to the ruins. With the completion of the Panama Railroad, traffic on the Chagres River was sharply reduced, and Chagres dwindled away.
The fort was within the boundaries of the Canal Zone. The United States cleared the jungle vegetation from the ruins and built a paved road to the site. Panama now includes Fort San Lorenzo in a national park.
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| Looking out to the Caribbean. |
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| View up the Chagres River. |
The storage rooms carved into the promontory give a respite from the blazing sun.
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