Santa María la Antigua del Darién
Santa María la Antigua del Darién was one of the first cities to be founded and permanently established on the American mainland by the Spanish explorers and conquistadors . Some sources name Santa María la Antigua del Darién or Cumaná as the first major Spanish settlement on the American mainland. Located on the edge of the Caribbean ( Gulf of Darién ) in the Región del Darién, in today's Colombian Department del Chocó , Santa María la Antigua was founded at the end of 1510 by Martín Fernández de Enciso and Vasco Núñez de Balboa , like the chronicler Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas reported.
 
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Location of Santa María la Antigua del Darién in Chocó |
Pedro Arias Dávila became governor of the region in 1514 and tried to settle 2000 people there, where the cultivation of corn and cassava and pig breeding seemed possible, but the locals did not allow themselves to be forced to work without resistance and diseases of the population, so that in 1523 the governor the The settlement was cleared in favor of the City of Panama, founded in 1519 . In 1524 the remains of the settlement were destroyed and burned down by Indians.
Individual evidence
Coordinates: 8 ° 13 ′ N , 77 ° 1 ′ W