Cathedral of St. Joseph of David

David is one of the economic and agricultural centers of Panama. Although there are few ancient attractions that other cities can boast of, the gems that have been preserved there are very valuable.

For example, the beautiful and rather unusual Cathedral of St. Joseph of David (Catedral de San Jose de David). It attracts tourists with its high bell tower, which seems to be a separate building, almost not connected to the cathedral.

In fact, the bell tower of St. Joseph's Cathedral is the soul of this temple, its history, and its main attraction. Unlike the church building itself, which was erected in 1955, the tower dates back to the 19th century. Unfortunately, more accurate data has not been preserved. It is only known that it was built by the famous Italian architect Francisco Belli.

The first cathedral was built on this territory in 1650. Then it was a small church, the walls of which were made of reed and clay. Its roof was covered with palm leaves. Of course, the temple often went to wreck. Then it was rebuilt and collapsed again. And this happened many times.

Gradually, they built a durable temple and began to erect a bell tower from solid stones of the Pedregal hill. By the time the work was completed, in 1681, the tower was the tallest building in the city. It impressed the locals so much that some of them began to believe that God himself lived above, among the bells.

Unfortunately, the cathedral itself has not survived. Due to the climate and not very conscientious attitude to the historical building, the temple fell into disrepair and was demolished in the 50s of the 20th century. A few years later, they built a new building that replicates the appearance of the old church as much as possible.