Fodor's Expert Review Monasterio de San Francisco
Zona Colonial
Other Attraction
Constructed between 1512 and 1544, the St. Francis Monastery contained the Franciscan order's church, convent, and hospital. Sir Francis Drake's demolition squad significantly damaged the building in 1586, and in 1673 an earthquake nearly finished the job. Still, when it's floodlit at night, the eerie ruins are dramatic indeed. There's live music every Sunday night from 6 to 10 pm. The scene is like an old-fashioned block party. Zone residents mingle with expats and tourists, who snap pictures of the octogenarians dancing merengue and bachata. Others who come are content to just sit in white plastic chairs, swaying and clapping. It's nice.
