World Heritage Identification Number: 135
World Heritage since: 1980
Category: Cultural Heritage
WHE Type: Buildings & Architectural Ensembles
Transboundary Heritage: No
Endangered Heritage: Yes
Country: 🇵🇦 Panama
Continent: Americas
UNESCO World Region: Latin America and the Caribbean
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Fortifications on the Caribbean Side of Panama: Portobelo-San Lorenzo - A Testimony to Spanish Military Architecture
The Fortifications on the Caribbean Side of Panama: Portobelo-San Lorenzo, inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1980, stand as a remarkable testament to the architectural prowess of the Spanish Empire during the 17th and 18th centuries. Situated along the Caribbean coastline of Colón Province in Panama, these military constructions offer a unique glimpse into the defensive strategies employed by the Spanish Crown to safeguard transatlantic trade routes.
More to come…UNESCO Description of the World Heritage Site
Magnificent examples of 17th- and 18th-century military architecture, these Panamanian forts on the Caribbean coast form part of the defence system built by the Spanish Crown to protect transatlantic trade.
UNESCO Justification of the World Heritage Site
Criterion (i): The Fortifications on the Caribbean Side of Panama: Portobelo-San Lorenzo are a masterpiece of human creative genius. Portobelo is a remarkable example of an open fortified town, destroyed and built several times. San Lorenzo underwent the same process of renovations along the colonial era.
Criterion (iv): The Fortifications on the Caribbean Side of Panama: Portobelo-San Lorenzo, a group of late 16th, 17th and 18th century fortifications, are among the most characteristic adaptations of Spanish military architecture to tropical climate and landscape features, and represent the structural and technological development of military structures in the Caribbean.
Encyclopedia Record: Fortifications on the Caribbean Side of Panama: Portobelo-San Lorenzo
The fortifications on the Caribbean Side of Panama: Portobelo-San Lorenzo are military constructions, built by the Spanish Empire during the 17th and 18th centuries on the Caribbean coastline of Colón Province in Panama. The ruins are located on the coast of the province of Colón. In view of their cultural importance, the sites have been inscribed by UNESCO in 1980 as a World Heritage Site under Criteria (i) and (iv), with the description, "Magnificent examples of 17th- and 18th-century military architecture, these Panamanian forts on the Caribbean coast form part of the defence system built by the Spanish Crown to protect transatlantic trade."Additional Site Details
Area: Not available
Number of Components: 2
(iv) — Outstanding example of a type of building or landscape
Coordinates: 9.553888889 , -79.65583333
