San Pedro Church: Taboga's Living History
September 14, 2026
A small church with a big claim
Walk two blocks up from the ferry dock in Taboga town and you run into a modest white church with a plain bell tower. It doesn’t look like much from the outside. What makes it worth a stop is its age: several travel guides describe it as the second-oldest Spanish colonial church in the Western Hemisphere, and locals will tell you the same thing if you ask.
Founded in 1524
The story starts with a Spanish priest named Hernando de Luque. In 1524 he arrived on the island and founded a small settlement by the sea, naming it San Pedro de Taboga after the town’s patron saint. With help from the settlers, he put up a simple chapel by the water, the direct predecessor of the church you see today.
The mass before Pizarro and Almagro sailed south
That original chapel has a real footnote in South American history. In that chapel, ancestor of today’s church, Francisco Pizarro and Diego de Almagro took communion before setting sail, Almagro toward the conquest of Chile and Pizarro toward Peru. De Luque stayed behind on the island, tending to the chapel and farming.
Second oldest in the hemisphere?
This is the line every Taboga guidebook repeats. Taboga is fortunate to have the second oldest church in the western hemisphere, says one long-running travel guide, and Panamanian press covering the town’s 500th anniversary in 2024 quoted a member of the parish’s pastoral council backing the same claim. There’s no international registry that formally ranks church ages, so treat it as local tradition rather than a certified title. What’s better documented is the age of the current structure itself, which local reporting pegs at roughly 375 years, even though the site itself dates to 1524.
A saint born on the island?
Taboga also claims a link to the first Catholic saint of the Americas. Local tradition holds that Isabel Flores de Oliva, later known as Saint Rose of Lima, was born on the island, and that her father, a Spanish soldier, passed through Taboga before settling in Lima. There’s no document that confirms it, but it’s part of the story residents tell with pride.
Patron saint feast and the 500th anniversary
Every June 29, the town celebrates its patron saint with a beach gathering, games, and a water procession followed by one through the main streets. Taboga marked five centuries since its founding in 2024, and the parish opened a Holy Year of indulgence running from one June 29 to the next. If you land on the island near that date, expect the town in full celebration mode.
Visiting the church
The church sits right in town, an easy walk from the pier, so it pairs naturally with a stroll along the waterfront or a hike up Cerro de la Cruz. For ferry schedules and everything you need to plan the crossing from Panama City, check our getting to Taboga guide.