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South of Chitre just across the Rio La Villa, LA VILLA DE LOS SANTOS - often referred to simply as Los Santos - is where the first Panamanian declaration of independence from Spain was made on November 10, 1821. A small, quiet town, Los Santos comes alive twice a year: to commemorate the "Cry of Independence" on November 10, and during the eight-day rum-fuelled fiesta of Corpus Christi in late May or early June. The IPAT office (Mon-Fri 8.30am-4.30pm; tel 966 8037 or 966 8013) on Parque Bolivar, the centre of the town, is fairly helpful, with plenty of information on the peninsula. Also on the parque, the Museo de la Nacionalidad (Tues-Sat 9am-4.30pm, Sun 9am-1pm; US$1) has a small collection of colonial religious art and documents relating to the independence declaration. The building - a crumbling eighteenth-century house where the declaration was signed - is actually more interesting than its contents, with a garden filled with traditional handicrafts and agricultural tools. Just off the parque, the Church of San Anastacio , begun in the eighteenth century, features several intricately carved Baroque colonial altars. From Los Santos the road continues 20km south to Las Tablas, passing through the small town of GUARARE . It's worth stopping here for the Museo Manuel F. Zarate (Tues-Fri 8am-4pm, Sat 8am-noon; US$1), behind the church on the main square, which has a fascinating exhibition on the folklore and fiestas of the peninsula, featuring masks, costumes, old photographs and a collection of the finest polleras . Manuel Zarate was a local teacher and musician who was dedicated to conserving the rich folk traditions of the Azuero and in 1949 began the "La Mejorana" National Folkloric Festival , a competition of traditional music, dance and costumes from all over Panama that is still celebrated in Guarare every September 24.
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