Travel Guide Penonomé

Founded in 1581, the town was named Penonomé after the assassination of the native cacique Nomé by the Spaniards: Aquí penó Nomé ("Here Nomé was executed"). Penonomé temporarily became the capital of the Isthmus after the destruction of Panamá La Vieja by Henry Morgan in 1671, until the reconstruction of the new Panamá two years later. Today, it has a population of around 20,000. An important commercial center for the surrounding pueblos. The Pan-American Highway divides the urban area in two: to the south, residential districts; to the north, a more commercial zone; and the historic center, with its traditional park, surrounded by the San Juan Bautista basilica, the town hall, the police station and the Gobernación de Coclé. Two cuadras to the south-west, we arrive in the colonial mini-quartier of San Antonio, with a few well-restored houses and a museum on local traditions.