Page 208 - The Rough Guide to Panama (Travel Guide)

206 Chiriquí and Veraguas Santiago and the central highlandS
David (183km) & Costa Rica San Francisco de la Montaña (16km) & Santa Fé (60km)
5 SANTIAGO AV 12B NORTE CALLE 16C NORTE AV 13C NORTE
N CALLE 7B NORTE CALLE 11C NORTE CALLE 13C NORTE
Baseball CALLE 9A NORTE AV 13C NORTE
AV 11A N
Stadium
AV 10A N
ACCOMMODATION
Centro Hotel Gran David 2
Bank Los Tucanes Residencial del Sol 1
& ATM I N T E R A M E R I C A N A (buses to David El Maná 1
AV 8B NORTE
Soná (47km) & Santa Catalina (110km) AVENIDA 5A N O RTE CL 8A NORTE Laundry CL 11B N CL 12B N CL 13B N AV 7B NORTE Centro Piramidal 2 4 3 Iglesia Atalaya (8km), Divisa (32km) & Panama City (237km)
& Panama City)
EATING
Bus terminal
AV 10B NORTE
Gran Machu Picchu
Restaurante y Asados Alex
Escuela Normal
Restaurante Tropicalísimo
CL 6B N
Juan Demóstenes
Arosemena
MIA office
CL 2A N.Ó. GILBERTO VEGA CL 3A NORTE CL 4A NORTE CL CALIDONIA CL 5A NORTE C L 6B N O RT E Supermarket CALLE 10A NORTE AV 4D NORTE DON BOSCO and Panama City) AV 5DE MAYO Police
(buses to David
CL 9A NORTE
Plaza Palermo
Museo Regional
de Veraguas
Parque J.D. AVENIDA CENTRAL C 14B SUR
Catedral Arosemena C 15A 0 500
Santiago C 13A C 14A SUR CALLE 17A SUR
Apóstol metres
Puerto Mutis (29km)
is a major transit point as well as a marketing centre for the livestock, rice, maize and
sugar from the surrounding farmlands. If you’re travelling round Panama by public
transport, it’s highly likely that at some stage you will, at the very least, spend time in
the bus terminal or stranded on the Interamericana here, though there’s little incentive
to venture further into town unless you happen to coincide with the patronales around
July 25, which draw in the crowds for some serious partying.
Of greater tourist interest is the city’s status as the entry point to the undulating
Península de Soná, at the tip of which lies Santa Catalina, Panama’s surfing capital
(see pp.210–212), and as gateway to the cooler mountain slopes of the central
highlands, which are sprinkled with tranquil farming villages and the charming hilltop
village of Santa Fé. Closer to town, a few kilometres outside Santiago, are a couple of
delightful village churches worth a detour, both accessible by bus.
The town centre
Most of the businesses are strung along the Interamericana and Avenida Central, which
branches west off the highway heading into the town centre, coming to an abrupt halt
in front of the impressive exterior of the Catedral Santiago Apóstol, stunningly
illuminated at night. Adjacent is Parque Juan Demóstenes Arosemena, the city’s main
plaza; it takes its name from the former president, revered here for choosing the town
as the site for Panama’s first teacher-training institution. The college, Escuela Normal
Juan Demóstenes Arosemena, lies several blocks northeast of the plaza on Calle 8A
Norte and is the architectural jewel of Santiago, with a majestic Baroque frontispiece.
Across the main plaza from the cathedral stands the rather uninspiring – save for a
few pre-Columbian ceramics – Museo Regional de Veraguas (Mon–Fri 9am–4pm, Sat
9am–3pm; free), housed in the former prison where three-time president Belisario
Porras was incarcerated during the civil war.
Iglesia Atalaya
Atalaya, 8km southeast of Santiago • Buses from Santiago every 15min (30min)
From the outside, the Iglesia Atalaya resembles an inauspicious two-tier wedding cake;
inside, its lofty vaulted ceilings covered in splendid frescoes and lovely stained-glass
windows more than compensate. Tucked away in a side altar, the Cristo de Atalaya,
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