Santa María la Antigua del Darién was a settlement established in 1510 by Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa on the Caribbean coast of what is now Darien, between Panama and Colombia.It was the first successful European settlement founded on the mainland of the Americas after the voyages of Christopher Columbus. It was originally the village of the chief Cémaco and his people, who were driven out by Balboa. From here, Vasco Núñez de Balboa made his famous march to the Pacific ocean.
It was located in present day Colombia approximately 40 miles south of Acandí, Colombia. After Pedrarias Dávila founded Panama City in 1519, Santa María la Antigua del Darién was abandoned and in 1524 was attacked and burned by the indigenous people.
Darien is a wild region located in the eastern extreme of the country bordering with Colombia on the east, Kuna Yala (San Blas) in the north, the Pacific Ocean on the south and the Province of Panama in the northwest. It was also the site of the Darién scheme, a Scottish colonisation project.
