Museo de la Nacionalidad

This modest museum, on the north side of Plaza Simón Bolívar, occupies the former house where Panama’s Declaration of Independence was signed in 1821. Pre-Columbian ceramics and colonial-era religious art comprise most of the exhibits, though obviously there's a fair amount on Los Santos' role in the independence movement. In an outbuilding in the lovely garden courtyard out the back is a restored cocina típica (traditional kitchen).

Over the years, this handsome brick-and-tile residence has served as a jail, a school and a government office. It predates the town’s church, but no one knows exactly when it was built.