Page 62 - The Rough Guide to Panama (Travel Guide)

60 Panama City CasCo Viejo and around
1 along the top of what were the ramparts. The walkway along the defensive seawall
is a favourite haunt of smooching couples – earning it the nickname Paseo de los
Inamorados – and Guna traders displaying their handicrafts to passing tourists. At the
far end, before descending the steps into the Plaza de Francia, you get fine views across
the bay. Peek over the wall and you can glimpse the windows of the dungeons where
prisoners were allegedly left at low tide to drown when the high tide flooded the cells.

Plaza de Francia
Plaza de Francia, at the southeastern tip of Casco Viejo, is an irregularly shaped space
bounded by the seawall and the renovated arches of Las Bóvedas (vaults), Spanish
dungeons that also functioned as storehouses, prison cells and barracks for the fort
that occupied the plaza until the early twentieth century. They now contain a chic
restaurant of the same name. Formerly the Plaza de Armas, the city’s main square, the
space is dominated by a substantial monument dedicated to the thousands of workers
who died during the disastrous French attempt to build the Canal (see p.295). The
central obelisk is topped by a proud Gallic cockerel and ringed by busts of the key
figures involved, including Ferdinand de Lesseps, the French diplomat who first
conceived of the canal yet whose ignorance and vanity were central to the project’s
ultimate failure (see p.295). Behind, vast marble tablets chronologically outline the
bare bones of the dream to build a transisthmian waterway.
The Neoclassical French Embassy overlooks the square from the north, fronted by a
huge statue of former Panamanian president Pablo Arosemena. The large gleaming-
white building to the east is home to the Instituto Nacional de Cultura (INAC), the
body responsible for maintaining the country’s museums. It was spruced up for the
James Bond film Quantum of Solace, in which it featured as a Bolivian hotel. Adjacent
is the intimate Teatro Anita Villalaz (see p.85).

Iglesia y Convento de Santo Domingo
Av “A” at C 3 • Closed for restoration
Restoration work is ongoing at the ruined Iglesia y Convento de Santo Domingo.
Completed in 1678, it is most famous for the Arco Chato (flat arch) over its main
entrance – which remains open to the public. Just 10.6m high, but spanning some
15m with no keystone or external support, it was reputedly cited as evidence of
Panama’s seismic stability when the US Senate was debating where to build an
interoceanic canal. Ironically, the arch inexplicably collapsed just after the centenary
celebrations for Panama’s independence in 2003, but has subsequently been restored.

Museo de Arte Religioso Colonial
Av “A” at C 3 • Mon–Fri 9.30am–3.30pm • Free • T501 4127
The single room of the Museo de Arte Religioso Colonial has a small collection of
religious paintings, silverwork and sculpture dating back to the colonial era.
Realistically, the detailed information panels will only be of interest 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 for being home to the legendary Baroque Altar de Oro (Golden Altar), which
illuminates the otherwise 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

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