Chagres and Fort San Lorenzo

Fort San Lorenzo is a Spanish colonial fortress built from 1595 at the mouth of the Chagres River in Panama, ordered by King Philip II to protect the strategic waterway linking the Atlantic and Pacific. The fort guarded the terminus of the Camino Real de Cruces gold route and was attacked and destroyed by the pirate Henry Morgan in 1670, who used it as a base to invade Panama City. Rebuilt three times between the 17th and 18th centuries, the fort features large earthwork battlements, a moat, underground tunnels, and a cistern. In 1980, UNESCO designated it a World Heritage Site alongside Portobelo as outstanding examples of 17th-18th century military architecture.