Description: Although the Cathedral Metropolitana is the highlight of the Plaza de la Independencia, the square is filled with some great museums that are worth a visit. The Casa de la Municipalidad was built in 1910 and serves as a government office. On the second floor is the Museo de Historia de Panama, which has exhibits showing original documents, old maps, and scale models tracing the history of Panama with the arrival of Balboa and events leading up until 1977. All of the signs in the museum are written in Spanish.

Next door is another museum, the Museo del Canal Interoceanico, a history museum of the Panama Canal. But before it was a museum, it began as the headquarters of the Compagnie Universelle du Canal Interoceanique, in the late 1800’s. The French were the first to attempt to build a canal through Panama and up until the time that they went bankrupt, this building served as the command center for the French effort. From 1904 until 1912, the building then housed the US Canal Commission, the US’s agency responsible for the construction of the canal. Over the years the building has been many different things to include a post office. In 1997, with the building having such a unique connection with the Panama Canal, it was made into a museum dedicated to the building of the Panama Canal. This museum is one of the most extensive and in depth of any museum in the country when it comes to explaining the history of the building of one of man’s most unique achievements. The entrance fee is only $2 but like the museum next door all of the exhibits are in Spanish. For a fee and advance notice, you can have an English speaking guide take you around, but it is not necessary. Picture taking is not allowed and we found that out when I took a couple of pictures of the exhibits upstairs. Obviously being caught on camera, we were met by an employee who started speaking to us in Spanish. I eventually realized what he was saying and we were allowed to continue looking around only after I deleted the pictures that I had taken off of my camera.

We headed down Ave A to the Iglesia de San Jose, a small simple looking church on the outside. Inside the church, a massive gold altar from floor to ceiling makes one feel as if they had stumbled upon some type of hidden treasure. In fact, pirates sought this altar but were never able to capture it, thanks to some smart priests. The Iglesia de San Jose with its gold altar was originally located in Panama Viejo until Henry Morgan, a pirate, destroyed the city. Knowing that the altar would be a great find for Morgan and a loss for the city, the priests painted the altar black to disguise it. The pirates fell for it and the altar was saved. It was moved to its current location when the residents abandoned Panama Viejo and founded Casco Viejo.

One block west of the church is the Parque Herrera, a small plaza dedicated to General Tomas Herrera. He was the first president of the Free State of the Isthmus, as it was then called, being appointed by the governing country, Colombia. A life size statue of General Herrera sitting on his horse graces the middle of the plaza. Another block west is the Baluarte Mano de Tigre, which are a watchtower and the last remnants of the city wall that guarded Casco Viejo.

We headed back toward our vehicle walking along Ave A passing the Iglesia de San Jose. We stopped at some different shops along the way. There is a wide array of different shops ranging from the typical junk store to the very expensive. On Ave A, Reprosa specializes in jewelry made from reproductions of Pre-Colombian gold pieces and Spanish coins. They also sell handmade molas along with different types of artwork. The store is very expensive, but if you are looking for something unique, then Reprosa is worth a stop. If you want molas, they are sold all over Casco Viejo, specifically near the Plaza de la Francia. The Kuna Yala women can be seen sewing these bright woven pieces of fabric. Molas are a major source of income for the Kuna Yala women and one of these pieces of fabric will cost about $15-20. Heading toward the French Embassy, we passed another plaza, this one dedicated to Charles V. He was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1519 until his death in 1558 and a bust of his head sits in the middle of the plaza surrounded by park benches. We finally made it back to our vehicle and headed out as fast as we headed in.

For more information on Casco Viejo, visit www.cascoviejo.org

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