Page 168 - The Rough Guide to Panama (Travel Guide)

166 The Azuero PeninsulA The road To Las TabLas
La Villa de Los Santos (37km) & Chitré (41km)
lAs TABlAs Hospedaje Martha 2
ACCoMMoDATion
Hotel Don Jesús 1
0 500 Hotel Presidente 3
metres Hotel Sol del Pacífico 4
eATinG
La Maestra 1
Restaurante Hotel Piamonte 3
Restaurante y Pizzería El Caserón 2
A V E N I D A 8 D E N O V I E M B R E A V C A R L O S L Ó P E Z Bus terminal

CALLE FRANCISCO GONZÁLEZ V Í A C I R C U N V A L A C I Ó N

CALLE SANTA LIBRADA
Police
CALLE EMILIO CASTRO
Bank
Playa El Uverito
olmedo
solé
Buses to Buses to CALLE 12 DE OCTUBRE CALLE RAMÓN MORA CALLE DEL ESTUDIANTE estadio
Cañas CALLE LOS SANTOS laundry Cemetery
AVENIDA ROGELIO GAEZ
4 iglesia
CALLE PABLO AROSEMENA
santa Parque escuela
Belisario
librada Porras Presidente CALLE MOISÉS ESPINO CALLE DE AMADO DE JESÚS BARRIOS
Porras
Museo N
Belisario Bank
Porras & ATM V Í A C I R C U N V A L A C I Ó N
AV BOLÍVAR Buses to CALLE AGUSTÍN BATISTA CALLE 3 DE NOVIEMBRE
Chitré &
Pedasí
A V E N I D A B E L I S A R I O P O R R A S
CALLE AGUSTÍN CANO CASTILLERO
Buses to Tonosí
MIA office (700m), Pedasí (40km) & Playa Venao (70km)
Brief history
Spanish nobles apparently founded the town in 1671; having fled Panamá Viejo after
its sacking by pirate Henry Morgan, they were swept by fierce winds onto the shores
of the Azuero. Here – so the story goes – an image of the Virgen de Santa Librada
appeared before them as a statue, which they interpreted as a sign that their new
settlement should be established on that very spot. Santa Librada, unsurprisingly, was
adopted as the patron saint. The name Las Tablas is thought to have derived from the
planks (tablas) salvaged from the ships and used to construct the initial houses.
Iglesia Santa Librada
Parque Porras
Iglesia Santa Librada features a figurine of the patron saint set at the facade’s apex.
The magnificent golden altar, which suffers from an overdose of pale-faced cherubs,
illuminates the otherwise pedestrian interior – look out for the reliquary said to contain
a segment of the saint’s leg. Although originally built in 1789, a lot of the church
structure visible today dates from the late 1950s.
Museo Belisario Porras
Parque Porras • Tues–Sat 8am–4pm • $1 • T994 6326
Diagonally across the square from the church the neat, red-tiled Museo Belisario Porras
celebrates the life of Panama’s most illustrious president in the house of his birth.

150-177_Panama_3_Ch4.indd 166 30/06/17 11:50 am