The Old
City (Casco Viejo)
The Old Part, also known as Casco Antiguo or the San Felipe district, is
the most colorful part of Panama City. UNESCO declared it a World Heritage
Site in 1997. It is a city within the city, and a great place for a walking
tour. You can wander down narrow brick streets, sip an espresso at an outdoor
café, visit old churches, and see wrought-iron balconies spilling over with
bright tropical plants. It has an unusual blend of architectural styles.
This charming old community’s churches, pedestrian walkways and historical
plazas and palaces make it a must-see on any tour of Old Panama ().
Catedral
Metropolitana -
E6 ON MAP
Old
Panama's main
plaza was the center of the city until the early twentieth century. It was
originally square in plan, but in 1878 it acquired its definitive rectangular
shape. At the end of the nineteenth century it was transformed into a park. It
was remodeled one last time during the early 1980's.
Museo del Canal
de Panama / Panama Canal Museum
- E6 ON MAP
Erected in
1874-75 as the Grand Hotel. In 1881 it became the head office of the French
canal company. For a time it belonged to the U.S. Isthmian Canal Commission,
and in 1912 it became the main Post Office. Since 1997 it is the Panama Canal
Museum.
Teatro Nacional
/ Panama National Theatre -
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Designed in 1905
by the Italian architect G. N. Ruggieri, the National Theatre stands on the
site originally occupied by a convent. The inside decoration is the work of
the Italian artist E. Corrado and the paintings are the work of the Panamanian
artist Roberto Lewis. The theatre opened in 1908.
Plaza Bolivar -
E6 ON MAP
This plaza goes
back to the 1756 fire, which destroyed the houses that originally stood on
this spot. In 1883 the empty lot was named Bolivar Plaza. A monument
commemorating the one-hundredth anniversary of Bolivar Amphictyonic Congress
was placed in the middle of the plaza in 1926.
Plaza Herrera -
E6 ON
MAP This plaza
originated in the wake of the 1781 fire. Known in the mid- nineteenth
century as Plaza del Triunfo (triunfo means victory). It was used for
bullfights. In 1887 it was renamed Herrera Plaza in honor of the Panamanian
general and statesman Tomas Herrera (1804-54).
Palacio
Municipal / The Municipal Palace -
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The Municipal
Palace was erected on the site of the colonial town hall where independence
from Spain was proclaimed in 1821. It was designed by architect G. N. Ruggieri.
Finished in 1910, it is one of the best example of neo - Renaissance
architecture in Old Panama.
Iglesia De San
Francisco - E6 ON MAP
The first
Franciscan church was built in the late seventeenth century, but the 1737
and 1756 fires destroyed it and it had to be rebuilt. Beginning in 1918 it
was totally remodeled in the manner of European eclecticism by architect
Leonardo Villanueva Meyer.
Edificio Bolivar
- E6 ON MAP
This building
was originally the Franciscan convent, although in the nineteenth century it
was adapted to other uses. Most of the original structure was demolished
between 1921 and 1932 and replaced by the existing building. Today it is the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The 1826 Amphictyonic Congress brought about by
Simon Bolivar took place in the Bolivar Hall. The sole remnant of the original
convent. It was restored in 2000 by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The
documents of the Amphictyonic Congress lent by the Brazilian government are on
exhibit here.
Plaza de Francia
/ France Plaza -
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Present-day
Plaza de Francia (France Plaza) was originally a courtyard within the Chiriqui barracks. In 1921-22, it was transformed into a monumental plaza.
Designed by architect Leonardo Villanueva Meyer, it commemorates the French
canal Enterprise led by Ferdinand de Lesseps. Besides the Monument, on this
plaza you will find French Embassy, which picture is below, Esteban Huertas
Promenade, Anita Villalaz Theatre, Culture National Bureau, and a beautiful
view of the Panama City Bay, Bridge of the Americas and the Causeway - Amador.
Embajada de
Francia / French Embassy -
E7 ON MAP
The
Esteban Huertas Promenade begins on one side of the former Union Club and ends
at France Plaza. It was laid out in 1944 - 1946 on the Chiriqui bastion, a
well-preserved part of the colonial city wall.