On May 20, 1524, Pedrarias authorizes the expedition of Francisco Pizarro, Diego de Almagro and

the priest Hernando de Luque, which departs on November 14 from Panama to the conquest of
Peru.

The Chagres River represented for the Spanish authorities a possibility of serving as part of a
navigable trans-isthmian route. With this purpose, in 1527 Governor Pedro de los Ríos instructed
Hernando de la Serna, Miguel de la Cuesta and Pedro Corso to explore the Chagres River, which
they determined was favorable for use as a road to communicate both seas.

In 1529, Álvaro de Saavedra Cerón was the first to propose the construction of an interoceanic
canal through the Isthmus of Panama, but in 1533 Gaspar de Espinosa wrote to King Carlos I of
Spain stating that the Chagres River could be made navigable at a very high cost. low, being the
most useful route in the world, stating that a channel for navigation can be dug. By orders of the
Spanish Crown, other explorations were made in the Chagres River during the Governorships of
Antonio de la Gama and Francisco de Barrionuevo without encouraging results

The Camino Real de Nombre de Dios was almost impassable during the rainy season, so a new
route was thought of. In 1536 the Municipality of Panama was authorized to build a warehouse at
Venta Cruz or Cruces on the banks of the Chagres River, seven leagues from Panama City
(equivalent to a 7-hour walk, on foot). Given the deplorable conditions of the Camino Real de
Nombre de Dios, in 1569 the Viceroy of Peru, Francisco de Toledo, ordered the construction of
another road that passed through Cruces, which was called Camino Real de Cruces. Most of the
old town of Cruces lies under the waters of Gatun Lake in the Panama Canal, although a part of the
remains of its former site are still visible at the Venta de Cruces site.