Tag Archives: Panama History

Oldies! “El Cielo”, a 1919 Casco Viejo Store: guns, soap & lace

Posted in Casco Viejo on August 27, 2013 Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Oldies! “El Cielo”, a 1919 Casco Viejo Store: guns, soap & lace

Panama, Casco Viejo, Casco Antiguo I came across a magazine called Cuasimodo, which was edited back in the early Republic days. This ad was found in a 1919 magazine, I have to say it is one of my favorites. Stores back then sold everything… at the same place and under the same counter. Items like “soap” were written in BIG BOLD LETTERS, as they were luxury items. Medicines were labeled (hum… were they labeled?) basically “drugs”, and claims of them curing anything would be based on the reputation of whomever sold that jar with pungent dark liquid in it to … Continue reading →

Panama`s History Jewel: Endara`s Museum

Posted in Casco Viejo on November 29, 2012 Tagged , , | Comments Off on Panama`s History Jewel: Endara`s Museum

Panama Casco Viejo, Casco Antiguo   I think I might have written about photographer Carlos Endara before.  Last week, I participated of a tour to this private museum and ran around like a little kid.  I mean, it is so beautiful and interesting! to see his work, how he captured with his lens life of Panama`s early republic. How his “low – fi” studio is the coolest thing I`ve ever seen in terms of historic houses, and I can assure you everything works as every “built to last forever” technology does. Right now, they have an exhibition of the Chinese … Continue reading →

Century Old Businesses of Panama

Posted in Casco Viejo on January 24, 2012 Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Century Old Businesses of Panama

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 on Panama History: Arco Properties Recommends

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 →

Panama`s Secret History

Posted in Casco Antiguo, Casco Viejo on August 23, 2011 Tagged , , | Comments Off on Panama`s Secret History

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 →

Panama: Happy 492th Birthday!

Posted in Casco Antiguo, Casco Viejo on August 15, 2011 Tagged | Comments Off on Panama: Happy 492th Birthday!

Casco Antiguo, Panama Looking for historic material to write this blog, I found this really cool book (from 1911) with all the gossip about America`s Discovery, founding of the Old Panama City and its later destruction by pirate Henry Morgan, which led to the founding of Casco Viejo, our beloved neighborhood. So, in celebration of Panama`s “roots” here are photos of the city that became one of the most important links during Europe`s conquest of the Americas! A small poem found on page 23: “Here the oceans twain have waited All the ages to be maited, – waited long, and … 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 →

Pirate Morgan`s Cannons found at Panama`s Caribbean Coast

Posted in Casco Antiguo, Community, tourism, Travel on February 28, 2011 Tagged | Leave a comment

Casco Viejo, Panama, Casco Antiguo Real Estate For Sale, For Rent at Panama`s Historic City   Casco Viejo (Panama)  owes its existence in more than one way to Pirate Henry Morgan (or should we say Sir Henry?).  Granted, people were already looking for alternatives to move the city out of the swamp where it was originally built (Panama Viejo), but having a fearsome pirate often referred as “Brethren of the Coast” attacking your city doesn´t help either. This week, an article on the findings past July 2010 of six cannons at the Caribbean coast of Panama (near San Lorenzo) made … Continue reading →

Historic Panama: a celebration of our roots

Posted in Casco Antiguo, Community, culture, Know Panama, lifestyle, Panama, tourism, Travel on November 2, 2010 Tagged | Leave a comment

Panama Casco Viejo Casco Antiguo Panama Real Estate For Sale For Rent at Panama`s Historic City   Panama has changed a lot in this last 100 years of existence as a Republic.  Casco Viejo itself has changed a lot and as a product of this mix we now have a beautiful World Heritage Site.  To celebrate Casco Viejo`s roots (and therefore Panama´s roots) during these Patriot Holidays, I`m posting here different historic photos and a list of the most incredible street names you can ever imagine.  Most of the photos are from 1850`s from the photographer Eadweard Muldbridge, but there … Continue reading →

First in 50 years: Turtles Nest in Casco Viejo, Panama!

Posted in Casco Antiguo, Community, culture, Eco, Know Panama, lifestyle, Panama, tourism, Travel on October 22, 2010 Tagged | Leave a comment

Panama Casco Viejo Casco Antiguo, Panama Lifestyle and Real Estate in Panama`s Historic City   I never heard of turtles nesting in Panama City. My dad, who grew up in Calle 6ta San Felipe  and who never had a talent for surfing (or dangerous sports like my uncles who practiced a bit of everything including parachuting) always got the job of watching out for sharks (yes, sharks) and alert his friends who would be swimming or surfing at the point break (still existing) by Plaza Francia (Las Bovedas).  But never stories of turtles. After that, the city grew, modern Panama … Continue reading →