Santa María la Antigua del Darién—rendered as Dariena in the Latin of De Orbe Novo—was a Spanish colonial town founded in 1510 by Vasco Núñez de Balboa. Located in present-day Colombia approximately 40 miles (64 km) south of Acandí, within the municipality of Unguía in the Chocó Department, it was the first permanent European settlement on the mainland of the Americas and served as the first capital of Castilla del Oro. The settlement was abandoned in 1524 after the capital was transferred to the newly founded Panama City and was subsequently attacked and burned by indigenous peoples.
HINT:
In this Dossier
- ⭐ Core Definition: Santa María la Antigua del Darién
- Santa María la Antigua del Darién in the context of Vasco Núñez de Balboa
Santa María la Antigua del Darién in the context of Vasco Núñez de Balboa
Vasco Núñez de Balboa (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈbasko ˈnuɲeθ ðe βalˈβo.a]; c. 1475 – around January 12–21, 1519) was a Spanish explorer, governor, conquistador, and a pirate. He is best known for being the first European to discover the Pacific Ocean while crossing the Isthmus of Panama in 1513.
He traveled to the New World in 1500 and, after some exploration, settled on the island of Hispaniola. He founded the settlement of Santa María la Antigua del Darién in present-day Colombia in 1510, which was the first permanent European settlement on the mainland of the Americas (a settlement by Alonso de Ojeda the previous year at San Sebastián de Urabá had already been abandoned).
View the full Wikipedia page for Vasco Núñez de Balboa