Panama’s third largest city sits on a coastal plain and, though short on sightseeing attractions, is centrally placed for hub-and-spoke exploration of Chiriqui Province. Congested David is known most for its weeklong mid-March fiesta honouring the city’s patron saint, but despite its overriding modernity also boasts a handful of modest historic draws.

David is surrounded by cattle country. Although founded in 1602, there is comparatively little sense of the past. The crowded town centre bustles with business. Markets and streets stalls spill their wares onto streets chockfull of tooting traffic. The whirligig of commercialism revolves around Parque Cervantes overlooked by a ho-hum church, the nineteenth century Iglesia de la Sagrada Familia.

Barrio Bolivar, the historic core, lies south of the main square and clings to a slower pace. David’s few sites of interest are here. The Museo de Historia y Arte Jose de Obaldia occupies the former two-storey home of the namesake founder of Chiriqui Province.