Fort San Lorenzo

In 1598, Fort San Lorenzo was built under the order of King Phillip II with a view to defending the Atlantic terminus of the Las Cruces Trail. In 1670, the attack of Buccaneer Henry Morgan on Fort San Lorenzo left it in ruins. Ten years ago, San Lorenzo was reconstructed in stone in 1680 but was demolished once more in 1740 by British admiral Edward. It was restored again in 1768 and fortified in 1779. This is the fort that can still be seen today.

Fort San Lorenzo served as a jail for over a century before temporarily becoming a campsite for explorers waiting for steamboat service on the Chagres River during the Gold Rush in 1848. Travelers flocked to Colon once the Panama Railway was completed in 1855, taking advantage of the shorter transcontinental journey time. UNESCO rebuilt the fort to its current state in the 1980s. San Lorenzo is regarded as one of the most outstanding representations of neo-classical military architecture in Spain from the 17th and 18th centuries, but it is collapsing to ruins due to the direct influences of the environment and erosion.

To explore this site, you have to cross the Panama Canal, which nowadays involves a ferry more often than driving across the little swing bridge, and then you drive through the tropical forest and pass through the former US Army Base of Fort Sherman. There is very little tourist information available at the site but you are free to wander around the atmospheric ruins and imagine what it was once like.

To explore this place, you must first cross the Panama Canal, then drive through the tropical jungle and through the former US Army base of Fort Sherman. The site has very little tourist information, but you are permitted to stroll around the dramatic ruins and imagine what it was like in the past.

Location: Chagres, Colon