Tag Archives: Casco Viejo History

Casco Viejo, Panama: Before and After Photos

Posted in Casco Viejo on May 8, 2012 Tagged , , , , | Comments Off

Panama, Casco Antiguo   It is always fun to find photos of early Casco Viejo and try to match it with today`s Casco.  This postcard seems to be from the early republic, and the corner of 12th with Santa Ana`s church at the back can only be what today is known as the corner of Café Coca Cola (well, not the café itself, but the Pio Pio behind, see the pink property at the corner). So here it is! before and after…. my vote goes to the original design because even if more simple, it had an extended roof that … Continue reading →

Century Old Businesses of Panama

Posted in Casco Viejo on January 24, 2012 Tagged , , , , | Comments Off

Casco Viejo, Panama, Casco Antiguo   I came across a while ago with the Spanish edition of The Economist, which normally gathers news of LatinAmerica (mostly focused on Central America, actually).  They ran an entire edition on companies that were more than a 100 years old, and Panama had featured two of them: the licor factory Varela Hermanos (103 years old) and the department store Felix B. Maduro (135 years old). The Felix B. Maduro store was actually born in Casco Viejo in 1877 (we were part of Colombia back then), and it was called “Maduro & Company”. Founded by … Continue reading →

Panama History: Arco Properties Recommends

Posted in Casco Antiguo, Casco Viejo on November 2, 2011 Tagged , | Comments Off

Casco Viejo, Panama November is one of those “love `em or hate `em” months in Panama, mainly because we managed (don´t know how, really) to fit all of our patriot holidays in the same month, and as a result nobody really works, nothing moves. So, if you are planning to come to Panama for business either 2, 3, 4, 5, 10 or 28th of November, just don´t bother.  Also, please check if any of those fall close to the weekend, for if it does, don´t bother either. We call that “bridging”. I mean, what`s the point of showing up for … Continue reading →

Casa de Rosa, Casco Viejo, Panama

Posted in Casco Antiguo, Casco Viejo on August 29, 2011 Tagged , | Comments Off

Panama, Casco Antiguo On Friday we attended the inauguration of Casa de Rosa, a restored building that used to belong to Rosa Eleta de Prieto back in 1921. The apartments are quite spacious, specially the living rooms! Records show that the original house was built in 1917. However, when they started digging, they found a piece of a “Hornabeque”. An Hornabeque in Spanish is a defensive system that offshore colonial cities used to build back in 1765 – 1769. This one was designed by Colonel Manuel Hernandez, who was sent to the Americas by King Charles III in 1759 to … Continue reading →

Panama`s Secret History

Posted in Casco Antiguo, Casco Viejo on August 23, 2011 Tagged , , | Comments Off

Casco Viejo, Panama   Every city has stories hidden under their “cement jungle”.  This is the slogan for a History Channel TV Series called “Secret Histories”.   A couple of years ago they did an entire episode about Panama, which covers Casco Viejo with a lot of interesting characters.  The episode was made for Latin America, so it is all in Spanish. We`ve been trying to find out if they have it in English, but seems that they didn`t. So, if you speak Spanish, take a look, it is a really well done show.  If you don`t,  we can still give … Continue reading →

Old Panama`s celebration coming up!

Posted in Casco Antiguo, Casco Viejo on August 12, 2011 Tagged , | Comments Off

Casco Viejo, Panama   Panamá La Vieja or Old Panama was the first European settlement at the Pacific Ocean. Founded August 15th, 1519 it will be blowing its 492 th candle on Monday! “Panama City” back then was called “Nuestra Señora de la Asunción de Panamá”…. ok, not precisely a 140-character-Twitter-like-easy-to-remember-name, so not surprisingly it got shortened to just “Panama”. Shortly after founded, it became the main link for the conquest of Peru.  It grew rich but also had zillion problems such as big fires, health issues (tons of mosquitoes, as they settled in a swampy area…. well, nothing was … Continue reading →

Easter: A Special History Treat at Casco Viejo, Panama

Posted in Casco Antiguo, Community, Know Panama, lifestyle, Panama, tourism, Travel on April 26, 2011 Tagged , | Leave a comment

Casco Viejo, Panama City, Panama A classic Panamanian tradition during Easter is to visit at least seven churches to pray and/or leave candles at their door.  Casco Viejo, being Panama`s colonial city, makes this task quite easy as it offers several options. Among the best known are the Cathedral Church, San José`s Church (or Golden Altar), San Francisco de Asis (now closed for repairs), La Merced Church, Santa Ana Church… and the hidden and always closed to the public San Felipe Neri. San Felipe Neri is located at the corner of Plaza Bolivar. Once upon a time, it stood alone … Continue reading →

La Merced Church Bells: Casco Viejo`s Oldest Object

Posted in Casco Antiguo, Community, culture, Know Panama, Panama, tourism, Travel on December 6, 2010 Tagged | Leave a comment

Casco Viejo Panama Panama Casco Antiguo Real Estate For Sale For Rent at Panama`s Historic District   For a while now, the priest at La Merced Church has been working hard to recover the treasures of one of the oldest churches in Casco Viejo, Panama.  He recently commissioned (and finished) the restoration of one of the chapels and built a small museum that hosts the birth and marriage records of what used to be Panama City.  This past week, an expert was brought to check on the old bells and see if they could be restored. Manuel Quintana, a descendant … Continue reading →