Nombre de Dios () is a city and

corregimiento ''Corregimiento'' (; , ) is a Spanish term used for country subdivisions for royal administrative purposes, ensuring districts were under crown control as opposed to local elites. A ''corregimiento'' was usually headed by a '' corregidor''. The ...

in Santa Isabel District,

Colón Province Colón () is a province of Panama. The capital is the city of Colón. It covers an area of 4,575.5 km2, and the population (in 2023) is 281,956. Overview This province has traditionally been focused on commerce (through the Colón Free Zone, ...

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 ...

, on the

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 ...

coast of

in the

. Founded as a

Spanish colony The Spanish Empire, sometimes referred to as the Hispanic Monarchy or the Catholic Monarchy, was a colonial empire that existed between 1492 and 1976. In conjunction with the Portuguese Empire, it ushered in the European Age of Discovery. It ...

in 1510 by

Diego de Nicuesa Diego de Nicuesa (; died 1511) was a Spanish conquistador and explorer. He was the first governor of Veragua, a region stretching from Panama to northern Nicaragua, during the Spanish colonial period. Background Diego arrived Santo Domingo in Apr ...

, it was one of the first European settlements on the

Isthmus of Panama The Isthmus of Panama, historically known as the Isthmus of Darien, is the narrow strip of land that lies between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, linking North America, North and South America. The country of Panama is located on the i ...

. As of 2010 it had a population of 1,130 people.

History

Nombre de Dios is the oldest continuously inhabited European settlement in the continental

Americas The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.''Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sing ...

. Originally a major port of call for the

Spanish treasure fleet The Spanish treasure fleet, or West Indies Fleet (, also called silver fleet or plate fleet; from the meaning "silver"), was a convoy system of sea routes organized by the Spanish Empire from 1566 to 1790, which linked Spain with its Spanish Empi ...

, Nombre de Dios was the most significant port for shipping in the Americas between 1540 and 1580. After the opening of

Potosí Potosí, known as Villa Imperial de Potosí in the colonial period, is the capital city and a municipality of the Potosí Department, Department of Potosí in Bolivia. It is one of the list of highest cities in the world, highest cities in the wo ...

in 1546, silver was shipped north to

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 ...

and carried by mule train across the isthmus to Nombre de Dios for shipment to Havana and Spain. As Nombre de Dios was situated near an unhealthy

swamp A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...

and was nearly impossible to fortify, it declined in importance. In June 1572 the English privateer Francis Drake sacked the colony and in April of the following year he ambushed the Spanish Silver Train, a mule convoy carrying a fortune in

precious metal Precious metals are rare, naturally occurring metallic chemical elements of high Value (economics), economic value. Precious metals, particularly the noble metals, are more corrosion resistant and less reactivity (chemistry), chemically reac ...

s. Drake captured the town again in 1595 but found little treasure, thereby missing 5 million pesos waiting off the Pacific side. After that date the Spanish preferred to use Portobelo as their Caribbean port.Timothy R Walton,"The Spanish Treasure Fleets", 1974, page 103 By 1580,

Veracruz Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entit ...

in present-day Mexico became a more important port. Mexican silver production increased steadily while South American production declined sharply after 1700. By 1600, Nombre de Dios had been all but abandoned by the Spanish. The town still exists, though it is much less populous than in the 16th century. Its population as of 1990 was 1,028 and of 2000 was 1,053.

Culture

Nombre de Dios is mentioned by the poet

Derek Walcott Sir Derek Alton Walcott OM (23 January 1930 – 17 March 2017) was a Saint Lucian poet and playwright. He received the 1992 Nobel Prize in Literature. His works include the Homeric epic poem '' Omeros'' (1990), which many critics view "as ...

in ''The Prodigal'': The bay is also mentioned in Sir

Henry Newbolt Sir Henry John Newbolt, Order of the Companions of Honour, CH (6 June 1862 – 19 April 1938) was an English poet, novelist and historian. He also had a role as a government adviser with regard to the study of English in England. He is perhaps ...

's poem "Drake's Drum", about a legend of Sir Francis Drake:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nombre De Dios, Colon Colonial Panama Populated places established in 1510 Populated places in Colón Province Corregimientos of Colón Province

History

Culture

See also

References