Chagres (), once the chief

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manch ...

on the isthmus of

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

, is now an abandoned village at the historical site of Fort San Lorenzo (). The fort's ruins and the village site are located about west of Colón, on a

promontory A promontory is a raised mass of land that projects into a lowland or a body of water (in which case it is a peninsula). Most promontories either are formed from a hard ridge of rock that has resisted the erosive forces that have removed the s ...

overlooking the mouth of the

Chagres River The Chagres River (), in central Panama, is the largest river in the Panama Canal's drainage basin. The river is dammed twice, and the resulting reservoirs—Gatun Lake and Lake Alajuela—form an integral part of the canal and its water ...

16th and 17th centuries: Discovery and fortification

In 1502, during his fourth and final voyage,

Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus (; between 25 August and 31 October 1451 – 20 May 1506) was an Italians, Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa who completed Voyages of Christopher Columbus, four Spanish-based voyages across the At ...

discovered the Chagres River. By 1534, the

Monarchy of Spain The monarchy of Spain or Spanish monarchy () is the constitutional form of government of Spain. It consists of a hereditary monarch who reigns as the head of state, being the highest office of the country. The Spanish monarchy is constitu ...

had, following its

conquest of Peru The Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire, also known as the Conquest of Peru, was one of the most important campaigns in the Spanish colonization of the Americas. After years of preliminary exploration and military skirmishes, 168 Spaniards, ...

, established a rainy-season gold route over the isthmus of Panama—

Camino Real de Cruces Camino may refer to: Places * Camino, Piedmont Camino is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Alessandria in the Italy, Italian region Piedmont, located about east of Turin and about northwest of Alessandria. As of 31 December 2004 ...

—using mule trains and the

. The trail connected the Pacific port of

Panama City Panama City, also known as Panama, is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has a total population of 1,086,990, with over 2,100,000 in its metropolitan area. The city is located at the Pacific Ocean, Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal, i ...

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 Sir Henry Morgan (; – 25 August 1688) was a Welsh privateer, plantation owner, and, later, the lieutenant governor of Jamaica. From his base in Port Royal, Jamaica, he and those under his command raided settlements and shipping ports o ...

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 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.

18th and 19th centuries: Decline and rebirth

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.Weaver and Bauer, p. 16 With the decline of Portobelo, Chagres surpassed it as the chief Atlantic port of the isthmus. By the middle of the 18th century, however, the Spanish had largely abandoned both of the old trails over the isthmus, preferring to sail around the tip of South America at

Cape Horn Cape Horn (, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which is Águila Islet), Cape Horn marks the nor ...

. For over a century, Fort San Lorenzo was used as a prison. The 1848 finding of gold in California stimulated new vitality at the mouth of the Chagres River. Westbound prospectors who preferred to avoid crossing the "Great American Desert" or rounding Cape Horn would follow the old path of the Las Cruces Trail, beginning their transcontinental journey at "Yankee Town" or "Yanqui Chagres"—the wild-west

boomtown A boomtown is a community that undergoes sudden and rapid population and economic growth, or that is started from scratch. The growth is normally attributed to the nearby discovery of a precious resource such as gold, silver, or oil, although t ...

that sprang up on the bank opposite the original village and fortress. The rebirth of Chagres' importance was short-lived. Although the advent of

steamboat A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. The term ''steamboat'' is used to refer to small steam-powered vessels worki ...

service on the Chagres River had, by 1853, shortened the time required to cross the isthmus from several days to about twelve hours, the 1855 completion of the Panama Railway further reduced the transcontinental travel time to about three hours. As a result, the railway’s Atlantic terminus, Colón, became Panama's Atlantic port, and Chagres receded from importance.

20th century: Canal Zone to protected area

The construction of the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal () is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean. It cuts across the narrowest point of the Isthmus of Panama, and is a Channel (geography), conduit for maritime trade between th ...

, completed in 1914, required the construction of the massive Gatun Dam, about upriver from Chagres, permanently sealing off the river from inland trade. Although Chagres fell outside the original boundary of the

Panama Canal Zone The Panama Canal Zone (), also known as just the Canal Zone, was a International zone#Concessions, concession of the United States located in the Isthmus of Panama that existed from 1903 to 1979. It consisted of the Panama Canal and an area gene ...

, that zone expanded in 1916 to include the mouth of Chagres River. The town of Chagres—which, by then, had only 96 houses and 400 to 500 inhabitants—was then "depopulated," and its former residents were resettled to Nuevo Chagres, located about to the southwest, along the coast. Fort San Lorenzo has been designated as government-protected since 1908. Currently, the ruins of Fort San Lorenzo and the Chagres village site are contained within the of the San Lorenzo Protected Area, all former Canal Zone territory. In 1980,

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

declared Fort San Lorenzo, together with the fortified town of Portobelo about to the northeast, to be a

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

under the name, " Fortifications on the Caribbean Side of Panama." The organization describes the fortifications as follows: "Magnificent examples of 17th- and 18th-century military architecture, these Panamanian forts on the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

coast form part of the defence system built by the

Spanish Crown The monarchy of Spain or Spanish monarchy () is the constitutional form of government of Spain. It consists of a Hereditary monarchy, hereditary monarch who reigns as the head of state, being the highest office of the country. The Spanish ...

to protect transatlantic trade."

Images

Fort San Lorenzo 05.jpg Fort San Lorenzo 01.jpg Fort San Lorenzo 02.jpg Fort San Lorenzo 04.jpg Fort San Lorenzo 09.jpg Fort San Lorenzo 13.jpg Fort San Lorenzo 15.jpg Fort San Lorenzo 14.jpg Fort San Lorenzo 16.jpg

In fiction

Chagres features prominently in '' The Adventures & Brave Deeds Of The Ship's Cat On The Spanish Maine: Together With The Most Lamentable Losse Of The Alcestis & Triumphant Firing Of The Port Of Chagres'', a children's book by

Richard Adams Richard George Adams (10 May 1920 – 24 December 2016) was an English novelist. He is best known for his debut novel ''Watership Down'' which achieved international acclaim. His other works included ''Maia'', '' Shardik'' and '' The Plague Do ...

Notes

References

* *

External links

* {{Authority control Archaeological sites in Panama Former populated places in Panama San Lorenzo Spanish colonial fortifications World Heritage Sites in Panama Buildings and structures in Colón Province Historic American Buildings Survey in the former Panama Canal Zone