black christ

The Black Christ statue is most impressive because of its story. now housed in an open air church, it remains in portobelo because tales say boats that tried to steal it kept encountering horrible sea conditions and the statue always found its way back to shore. not much there but the statue and some local vendors peddling religious souvenirs but interesting nonetheless.

This was interesting and worth a visit if you are in Portobelo, but I'm not sure I'd call it an attraction and certainly wouldn't come to the area just to see this

Must visit as only a few places to visit in town. Many restaurants available. The town is very safe.

Wasted three hours of my life. Portobello is a slum. Celebrity needs to eliminate this tour. Highly recommend the canal trip, very interesting.

Beautiful cathedral. You can walk right in the side entrance and see the beautiful altar. Lovely and inspirational.

Portobelo is an interesting place. It has much history, and this 'quaint' church contributes to its history/appeal. One visit, however, will suffice!

The Black Christ was interesting to see but do not expect the 8th wonder of the world. After spending 10 minutes in the church you have seen everything. We spent about a week in Portobelo on our boat. It is a shame they do not do more with this town. It has such a history with Captain Morgan, Spain, British etc. you can just imagine from the fort ruins what it was must have been like. But unfortunately it is in disrepair, streets lined with garbage and dogs roaming the streets. I felt like someone should organize a day to clean up the town because it really could be a quaint place to visit. I would not go out of my way to visit.

The black Christ would not be an attraction in any other city than Portobelo. Although the church is lovely and the idea of a black Christ is special, it is hard to spend more than 5 minutes here. It is definitely not worth a drive to Portobelo.

People buy necklaces with body parts on them and then hang them on a figurine of a black Jesus. The cathedral was impressive. Fresh coconut water across the street for $1.

I traveled by bus to Portobelo, changing buses at Sabanita, arrived 2+ hours later to find a run-down Little village. Walked the fascinating ruins of the Spanish fortress and toured the old custom house with nice museum, video in English, and ate at wonderful tiny restaurant owned by Senora Maria who cooked me a fabulous vegetarian meal. Look for blue door between custom house and church. Another lovely restaurant and art gallery about one block to left of custom house, but closed on Monday. The catedral with Black Christ is huge....I cannot imagine how such a tiny village can fill this huge edifice! Culture a combination of Spanish and Congo African slave descendants. The history here, for history buffs, is astounding. Francis Drake died here! Who would have thought? The bay is beautiful. Met a lady sailor who sails to Cuba in her catamarán, does dive trips, whatever you would like, Ask Senora Maria. This place is well worth the misery of getting to it, especially is you ride the old buses with open Windows and broken shocks!

Was amazed at the sheer size of this church. A must see in Portobelo. Be sure to take a look at the ruins both near the church, and get a water taxi to take you across the bay.

Go check out the statue, notice the loving care of the craftsmanship of the carving, the clothing, the jewelry, and the decorations. The entire church is beautiful, despite the scruffiness of the surrounding neighborhood. Portobelo will be a hip retreat for the wealthy in 20-30 years; go check it out while it's still a little run-down and humble, like Christ said we should all be.

Stopped by on our way to the beach. Was a wonderful pitstop and I'm glad to have spent about an hour at this location. We had a quasi-guide with us that explained the background.

Next to the remnants of the forts, the little church with the black Christ is a very interesting part of Portobelo. Go and have a look if you are in the neighborhood.

Great story behind this ancient church a the end of a long highway. We went as part of a tour that included the locks on the Panama Canal and included the historic town of Portobelo. The fortress and store house was of greater interest. The native Americans sell beautiful quilts and embroidery outside the church.