Most ads are interactive -- click on them to visit the folks who make The Panama News possible

travel

Also in this section:
The restored tower at Panama Viejo is now open
Sympathy for the Big Bad Wolf: a bus ride to and from Colon

Scenes from and around the newly restored tower at Panama Viejo
photos by Jim Malcolm

Jim Malcolm is Her Majesty's Ambassador of the United Kingdom in Panama. The devastation of Panama Viejo in 1671 was overseen by the Right Honourable Lord Lieutenant Governor of Jamaica, a Welshman named Henry Morgan. (British-Panamanian relations have improved quite a bit since then.) After that attack Panama City was moved to the site of the present Casco Viejo, which was more easily defended. A lot of the damage to the old buildings at Panama Viejo was done after Morgan's attack, by people scavenging the ruins to get building materials. Restoration work at Panama Viejo has been ongoing for some time, and includes archaeological digs that demonstrate that Pedrarias the Cruel really didn't found this settlement --- it was inhabited by indigenous people for at least 1,000 years before the Spaniards arrived.

Also in this section:
The restored tower at Panama Viejo is now open
Sympathy for the Big Bad Wolf: a bus ride to and from Colon