Currently, the site of the Ruins of Panama Viejo is an exceptional place, for this reason, it now represents one of the most important offers of the historic cultural tourism in Panama. Each year the amount of foreigners and nationals that visit this Monumental Historic Group of Panama Viejo, the tours through these monuments make you relive the history of the old Panama City, which was the location for expeditions during the conquest and Spanish colonization as well as the central point of the commercial routes of that era.

A little bit of history

Panama La Vieja a beautiful and historic city that was founded by Pedro Arias de Avila in 1519; This city had much commercial importance which caused greed among the pirates and was later devastated during the year 1671 by the pirate Henry Morgan, leaving only ruins.

Today the remains of that city devastated by the cruel pirates are World Heritage and currently restorations of their different archeological sites are being made. Those such as: Puente del Matadero (Matadero Bridge), Puente del Rey (Kings Bridge), Torre de la Catedral (Cathedral Tower), among others.

Torre Catedral (The Cathedral Tower) is the most important monument that Panama Viejo has, to which an observation deck has been adapted inside the tower, where you can appreciate the spectacular views that we have of the area, thus in addition from the tower one can observe: the enormous buildings along Balboa Avenue, San Francisco, Costa del Este and in addition can gaze the beautiful view that we have from this impressive structure.

Archeological sites see when visiting Panama Viejo

There are 19 different points where one can find a lot of history about that town, among which we have: Puente del Matadero, Church and Convent of la Merced, Church and Convent of St. Francis, Western Houses, Terrín Houses, Cathedral, Alarcón House, Royal Houses, Puente Del Rey, among others that you will be able to see in the posters that have a brief description of what each one of these places were.

For August 15th celebrations commemorating this special day for Panama Viejo; and they are many activities that will be done and that you can participate in if you are in Panama.

This royal city, has a center for visitors and inside you will find a museum, where the exhibition of the

Urbe Village and the human occupancy in the site is prolonged during its diverse historic monuments; and the same time you will be able to observe different archeological pieces that have been found during excavations that were done around the zone and if you like you can visit the museum and participate in the many activities that will be done in celebration of the 489 years of the founding of Panama La Vieja.

Looking to the future

Julieta de Arango, Executive Director of the Patronato Panama Viejo said that the construction of the “La Compañía de Jesús" project had already begun, it is the monument that follows the la Concepción Convent and will have some class rooms for private and public schools in the country, without any cost, with the objective of assisting the youth to acquire more awareness about the history and the value of the heritage. She also mentioned the big restoration project of the Plaza Mayor (Major or Grand Plaza). This project will consist in eliminating certain building, one at the beginning that will be an interactive museum and another at the end that will consist of a model of a colonial house that the visitors can experiment.