The first permanent European town on the Pacific coast of the Americas, founded 15 August 1519 by Pedro Arias Dávila with a hundred others, and the funnel every ounce of Peruvian silver passed through on its way to Spain. On 28 January 1671 the Welsh privateer Henry Morgan came over the isthmus with around 1,400 men and took it. The city burned to the ground; whether Morgan lit it or the inhabitants did to deny him the loot has never been settled. Thousands died and the survivors rebuilt the city further west, which is why the old one is still standing as ruins in a suburb of the modern capital: the cathedral tower, the convents, the house foundations. UNESCO World Heritage since 1997.
Panama City, Panama
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