2-SAN FRANCISCO DE LA MONTAÑA CHURCH

With a total area of 436 km ², San Francisco is located in the center of the province of Veraguas, in a small valley in which convergence between the rivers Gatu, Santa Maria, and Honda originating in the Cordillera Central, only 16 km north of Santiago.

Church San Francisco de la Montaña was formally founded in 1621 by the priest Gaspar Rodriguez and Valderas, although the true date of its origin has been lost forever. Region rich in gold coveted by the Spanish who, for more than one hundred years were defeated again and again by chiefs of legendary names that have been repeated for generations, like the never forgotten chief Urraca.
Seventeen kilometers from Santiago you find the San Francisco de la Montaña Church, a jewel of the baroque art that dates back to around 1727, located in the town of the same name. 

In this ancient church in lie hundreds of hand-carved pieces of the most precious woods of the region and housed in one of the oldest baroque group of altars of the continent, some exquisitely painted, others covered with gold leaf.


The altars displays carvings that despict scenes from the Sacred Scriptures and caryatids that reflect the syncretism of the Spanish Catholicism with the indian culture.