Panama City

Bocas del Toro archipelago from the plane

Time to head back to Panama City.  As you can see from the photo, the Bocas del Toro archipelago we just left is a very large mass of big and small islands, almost entirely created by mangroves, some with beaches and many comprised primarily of swamps.

Back in Panama City, we visited Panama Viejo, the site of the original Spanish fortress and settlement, built in the 1500's.  Casco Viejo, the next oldest part of the city, dates from the late 1500's.  San Jose Church has a magnificent gold altar that used to be in a church of the same name in Panama Viejo.  At one point, pirates were raiding the town in search of the gorgeous gold altar in the church, so the priests painted the altar black and buried it in the muck of the tidal basin.  They moved it to its current home in the late 1500's.                                                                                                        
In addition to the late 16th century San Jose church, Casco Viejo has so many lovely old colonial buildings, mostly in a state of ruin.  But, this is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, so has lots of cache. As a result, many of the buildings either have been renovated or in the process of being renovated.  This will soon be an upscale area of glitzy shops and restaurants and expensive hotels and homes.  The very poor people who used to live here (and many still do) are being moved into new apartment complexes which one can only hope will not become drug-ridden and rundown tenements of the future.


Stained glass window, San Jose church


San Jose church, Casco Viejo



Remains of 6th century cathedral

Panama City from Casco Viejo