Panamá la Vieja

These extensive ruins are all that’s left of the original Panama City. The ruins are on the eastern outskirts of the modern-day city, an easy drive east along Vía Cincuentenario. The Corredor Sur arcs right by it, making for an especially impressive sight at night, when the ruins are illuminated. Note that the site is commonly known as Panamá Viejo, though that’s not its proper name.

The city was founded on August 15, 1519, by the notorious conquistador Pedro Arias de Ávila, better known as Pedrarias, and burned down during a battle with the equally notorious Welsh pirate Henry Morgan in 1671. After that disaster, the Spanish moved Panama City to a more defensible site a few kilometers southwest, in the area now known as Casco Viejo.

Since most of Panamá la Vieja was made of wood, only the partial remains of a relatively few stone buildings were left standing. Two of the best-preserved structures are near the main entrance. The first is the tower of the cathedral, which is largely intact. It’s one of Panama’s national symbols and was built between 1619 and 1626. The other, a bit farther in, is the Casa Alarcón, also known as the Casa del Obispo (bishop’s house). Built in the 1640s, it was a three-story building with a wooden top floor. It’s the largest and most intact house on the site, but it’s still just fragments of walls. There are other ruins worth exploring, but try not to wander too far—the more distant ruins border a neighborhood plagued by crime and gangs.

The site is open 9 a.m.–5 p.m. daily. Admission is $2 for adults, $.50 for students. A booklet with a map and history of Panamá La Vieja is available at the museum entrance for $2.50.

A restoration project is buttressing the crumbling, rough-hewn stone walls with red bricks completely out of keeping with the original architecture. There are now signs in English and Spanish that explain the history of some of the ruins.

There are lots of souvenir kiosks in the buildings next to the ruins that sell devil masks, molas, Ngöbe-Buglé necklaces, and various other trinkets. There’s a cafeteria inside as well. An IPAT information booth is on the premises, but you’ll probably have a better chance turning up lost pieces of eight than finding anyone actually working there.

During the restoration archaeologists have found Spanish pots, plates, and utensils dating from the 16th and 17th centuries as well as a much older Indian cemetery with bones dating from 50 b.c. Examples of some of these are on display at the Museo de Sitio de Panamá la Vieja (tel. 226-9815 or 224-6031, www.panamaviejo.org, 9 a.m.–5 p.m. Tues.–Sun., closed Mon., $3 adults, $.50 students), which has been moved to a new, modern building about a kilometer before the main complex.