Nombre de Dios, Colón

Nombre de Dios (Spanish: "Name of God") is a city on the Atlantic coast of Panama in the Colón Province.

Founded as a Spanish colony in 1510 by Diego de Nicuesa, it was one of the first European settlements on the Isthmus of Panama. It is the oldest continually populated town in Panama and the America mainland. Originally a major port of call for the Spanish treasure fleet, Nombre de Dios was the most significant port for shipping in all of the Americas between 1540 and 1580. Silver was brought to it for export to Spain.^[1] As Nombre de Dios was situated near an unhealthy swamp and was nearly impossible to fortify, it declined in importance. In June 1572 the English pirate Francis Drake sacked the colony; he ambushed the Spanish Silver Train, a mule convoy carrying a fortune in precious metals, in April of the following year. By 1580, Vera Cruz in present-day Mexico became a more important port.

By 1600, Nombre de Dios had been all but abandoned by the Spanish, and its importance to the treasure fleets had been surpassed by Portobelo on the isthmus. The town still exists, though it is much less populous than in the 16th century.

Nombre de Dios is mentioned by the poet Derek Walcott in The Prodigal:

Caravels slid over the horizon.

The flags of the sea-almonds wilted
and yard-smoke drifted, forked as Drake's beard,

sacker of Nombre de Dios.

—The Prodigal (p. 46)

See also

• Piracy in the Caribbean

References