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Inside the Portobelo National Park lies the Portobelo Bay - a beautiful natural port. On Christopher Columbus's last voyage in 1502 he named the Portobelo Bay. The fortifications here were declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1980.
Portobelo National Park has great historical and cultural signifigance. San Felipe de Portobelo was founded on March 20, 1597 by Francisco de Valverde y Mercado. Portobelo reached its high point in the middle of the seventeenth century when it became the place where all the riches from Peru and other South American countries arrived overland from the City of Panama via the Cruces Road (Camino de Cruces). First, Nombre de Dios, and then Portobelo, was established as a convergence center of two trade routes, one from Lima (Peru) on which huge quantities of gold and silver were carried and the other from Seville (Spain) which was the trading capital of the empire. Great fortifications were built to protect the port entrance and the city from attack by pirates and corsairs. The San Fernando Fort, la Trinchera, the Santiago Fort and San Felipe del Morro Castle have been preserved and declared a World Heritage Site.
The coastline from San Cristobal Bay in the North and Buenaventura Bay in the South is a diverse ecosphere - with stretches of mangrove swamps, coral reefs, lagoons and some beautiful beaches. Here 4 species of sea turtles come to rest. The endangered hawksbill turtles nest on the beaches here.
There are many tourist destination in and around Portobelo National Park - Isla Grande is a small Caribbean Island located 30 minutes south of the Port of
Portobelo. You arrive at a parking lot and take a water taxi over to the island. There are several resaraunts and accommodations on the island. The famous "Black Christ" is located here. |
