Province of Herrera Travel Guide | Traditional Towns, Live Culture & Nature

Destination content © William Friar, used from Moon Handbooks Panama, 1st edition.

The province of Herrera

The coasts of this land is made up of mangroves, islands and beaches. Its main attractions are the traditions, the parties and the folklore, this combined with the beauty of the natural scenery, its national parks and wildlife reserves, offer the tourist a unique entertainment and adventure experience.

The most important towns in Herrera are Chitre, Parita, Ocu, Las Minas, Los Pozos and Santa Maria in that order more or less. It is a very lively place during the yearly carnivals. Herrera, like the other central provinces, is best known for its artisanal products, in particular clay pottery. These can be found in many places along the road such as in the town of La Arena.

Places to Visit in Herrera

La Catedral de San Juan Bautista

Chitré's cathedral was built between 1896 and 1910 on the site of an earlier church. With its tall twin towers, it's an easily spotted landmark. Inside, it's most notable for what it lacks: overwrought decorations. Instead, it makes tasteful, restrained use of dark woods, gold trim, attractive frescos, and stained glass. An arched ceiling made from thick beams, some of them hand-hewn, gives the cathedral a cozy feel.

Museo de Herrera

Chitré's museum is housed in a lovingly preserved Spanish colonial building (Calle Manuel María Correa and Avenida Julio Arjona, tel. 996-0077, 8 a.m.-noon and 1-4 p.m. Tues.-Sat., 8-11 a.m. Sun., closed Mon., $1 adults, $.25 children). The collection downstairs is devoted to archaeological finds from all around the central provinces, including stone tools from Monagrillo dating 2400-1000 B.C. Be sure to check out the collection of ancient ceramics. Local artisans are still inspired by the same designs the indigenous peoples used more than 1,500 years ago. In the middle of the ground floor is a recreation of the burial site of an Indian cacique (chief) found by the Spanish in 1517, including exact replicas of beautifully wrought gold jewelry, made by the Reprosa jewelry company in Panama City. The displays upstairs are devoted to the history of Herrera Province, from Spanish times to the modern era, represented by a signed baseball and Chicago White Sox cap donated by major-leaguer Olmedo Sáenz, who is from Chitré. Other exhibits include devil masks, polleras, and traditional musical instruments from the area. There's a diorama outside depicting a traditional local kitchen garden and sugarcane press. As small and simple as this museum is, it's one of the better ones in the country.

La Arena

This town two kilometers west of Chitré could be renamed Ceramics City. All along the main street that passes through the little town (pop. 6,429), which is practically a suburb of Chitré, are small shops selling the pottery this area is famous for throughout Panama. These include pots, mugs, ashtrays, plates, vases, pitchers, and so on. Entire tableware sets are sometimes available.

The pottery is based on designs created by the indigenous residents of this area thousands of years ago. The most traditional piece is the tinaja, or pot, that was once used to store household water. These are used as decorative items all over Panama. One of the country's most famous painters, Sheila Lichacz, has made a career out of her pastel images of and montages using these tinajas, which fascinate her. She was born in nearby Monagrillo. When she was a child she'd swim in the river on her family's ranch and accidentally kick up shards from broken pots that dated back 500 years or more.

The oldest designs made in La Arena are based on pre-Colombian patterns, mostly abstract, painted in earth tones on the reddish-brown piece. More modern designs start with these patterns but incorporate bright colors, glazes, and representational images, and these have become popular in recent years. It can now be difficult to find more traditional pieces. The factories are constantly trying new designs. After a little comparison shopping it's easy to spot the distinctive style of each taller (workshop/factory).

Parita

This amazingly well-preserved Spanish colonial town is 10 kilometers northwest of Chitré. As you drive up from Chitré, the turnoff is on the left at a gas station.

There's nothing much to do here but walk around and take photos, but Parita hints at what towns in the Azuero must have been like in olden days. It's also home to a nationally famous devil-mask maker.

Parita was founded in 1556 as Santa Elena and was later renamed. The town church, Iglesia Santo Domingo de Guzmán, was built a century later. It's a simple but attractive church filled with ornately carved woodwork. It's worth a quick visit. A little museum in the back that houses silver ceremonial pieces and other artifacts from the Spanish era was closed during a lengthy renovation of the church, but the town was trying to get it reopened during my last visit.

The townspeople live adjacent to each other in narrow, block-long buildings with red-tile roofs set around the plaza and church. The pride residents take in the place is evident in the spotless streets and the riot of flowering plants that cover the whole front of some buildings. It's a supremely mellow place, and so removed from the flow of modern life that many Panamanians don't even know it exists.

More about La Península de Azuero

The Azuero is inevitably called Panama's "heartland," a designation that tends to exclude the country's widely scattered indigenous populations, not to mention, for instance, those of African descent. If asked, many of these peoples would say their hearts belong to other parts of Panama.

Still, the peninsula occupies an important, almost mythological, place in the Panamanian psyche. It is the wellspring of Panama's favorite folkloric traditions, many of which originated in Spain but have taken on a uniquely Panamanian form-often thanks, ironically enough, to borrowings from the above-mentioned indigenous and African peoples.

Beautiful traditional clothing, such as the stunning pollera, and handicrafts, such as ceramics based on pre-Colombian designs, originated and are still made on the Azuero. The same is true of some important musical and literary traditions. Even Panama's national drink, the sugarcane liquor known as seco, is made here. Traces of Spanish-colonial Panama-rows of houses with red-tile roofs and ornate ironwork, centuries-old churches overlooking quiet plazas-are easy to find, especially in well-preserved little towns.

Most of all, the Azuero is known for its festivals. It has the biggest and best in the country, from all-night bacchanals to sober religious rituals. At the top of the heap is Carnaval, held during the four days leading up to Ash Wednesday. No Latin American country outside of Brazil is more passionate about Carnaval than Panama, and no part of Panama is more passionate about it than the Azuero.

For all the affection the Azuero inspires among Panamanians, most who live outside the peninsula know it only as a place to come for festivals. It usually flies below the radar of foreign visitors altogether. But those who want a taste of an older, more stately Panama should consider a visit. In some places, it's as though the 20th century never happened.

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Province of Herrera Travel Guide | Traditions, Culture & Nature