Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
centenary celebrations for Panama's independence in 2003, but has subsequently been re-
stored to its former glory.
Museo de Arte Religioso Colonial
Av “A” at C 3 • Mon-Fri 9.30am-3.30pm • Free
The single room of the
Museo de Arte Religioso Colonial
has a small collection of religious
paintings, silverwork and sculpture from the colonial era. The detailed information panels
will really only appeal to colonial history buffs who can read Spanish.
Iglesia de San José
Av “A” at C 8 • Mon-Fri 9am-noon & 2-5pm, Sat 9am-noon
The
Iglesia de San José
, built in 1673 but subsequently remodelled, is exceptional only as
home to the legendary Baroque
Altar de Oro
(Golden Altar), which illuminates the other-
wise gloomy interior. A carved mahogany extravaganza gilded with 22-carat gold leaf, it was
one of the few treasures to survive Henry Morgan's ransacking of Panamá Viejo in 1671
thanks, apparently, to having been painted or covered in mud to disguise its true value. Le-
gend has it that on being asked by Morgan where the gold was, the priest pleaded poverty to
explain its absence, even persuading the buccaneer to make a donation to the church.
Plaza Herrera
At the western limit of Casco Viejo is
Plaza Herrera
, a pleasant square lined with elegant
nineteenth-century houses. This was originally the Plaza de Triunfo, where bullfights were
held until the mid-nineteenth century, but was renamed in 1887 in honour of General Tomás
Herrera, whose equestrian statue stands in its centre. Herrera - after whom the Azuero Penin-
sula province is named - was the military leader of Panama's first short-lived independence
attempt in 1840. Just off Plaza Herrera to the west stands
Bastión Mano de Tigre
(Tiger
Hand Bastion), a crumbling and indistinct pile of masonry that is the last remaining section of
the city's original defensive walls on the landward side. To the north a gleaming white facade
announces the recently restored
American Trade Hotel
, which dates back to 1917.
In contrast, tucked away at the western end of the square is a striking wooden residential
building, named
La Boyacá
after a nineteenth-century gunboat, its front carved like the prow
of a ship. Beyond, Avenida A heads into the poor barrio and no-go area of
El Chorrillo
,
which was devastated during the US invasion, leaving hundreds dead and thousands home-
less. It has since been rebuilt, but the coloured concrete tenements that replaced the old
wooden slum housing are already run-down. Despite a substantial increase in police presen-
ce, drug gangs continue to run riot at night and the place is dangerous even during the day.
Parque Santa Ana
Parque Santa Ana
, the social hub of the impoverished neighbourhood of Santa Ana, marks
the transition between the old colonial centre of Casco Viejo and the more commercial mod-
