Fortifications on the Caribbean Side of Panama: Portobelo-San Lorenzo


World Heritage Identification Number: 135

World Heritage since: 1980

Category: Cultural Heritage

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.

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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.

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."

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Additional Site Details

Area: Not available

UNESCO Criteria: (i) — Masterpiece of human creative genius
(iv) — Outstanding example of a type of building or landscape

Coordinates: 9.553888889 , -79.65583333

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Image of Fortifications on the Caribbean Side of Panama: Portobelo-San Lorenzo

© gailf548 from New York State, USA, CC BY 2.0 Resized from original.

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Country Information: Panama

Flag of Panama

Official Name: Republic of Panama

Capital: Panama City

Continent: Americas

Population (2024): 4,515,577

Population (2023): 4,458,759

Population (2022): 4,400,773

Land Area: 74,180 sq km

Currency: Panamanian balboa (PAB;USD)

Country Data Sources

Last updated: January 18, 2026

Portions of the page Fortifications on the Caribbean Side of Panama: Portobelo-San Lorenzo are based on data from UNESCO — World Heritage List Dataset and on text from the Wikipedia article Fortifications on the Caribbean Side of Panama: Portobelo-San Lorenzo, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes made. Additional original content by World Heritage Explorer (WHE), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. WHE is not affiliated with UNESCO or the World Heritage Committee. Legal Notice. Privacy Policy.

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