Nata

Natá lies on the Pacific lowlands of central Panama, near the Gulf of Parita and the Río Chico. Before the Spanish conquest it was the seat of an Indigenous chiefdom in a region of substantial settlements. Archaeological sites nearby, including El Caño and Sitio Conte, reveal a long history of societies distinguished by elaborate burials and finely worked objects.

Spanish expeditions reached Natá in the early sixteenth century, and a Spanish town was formally founded there in 1522. Its fertile surroundings and position on the route west from Panama made it an early center of settlement on the Pacific side of the isthmus. The church of Santiago Apóstol, begun after the foundation of the town, became one of its most enduring landmarks and a reminder of the colonial community that grew around it.