The ruins of the original Panama City. Its the oldest European city on the Pacific coast of the Americas founded by the Spanish in 1519. For about 150 years this city was the epicenter of the Pacific, a gateway for gold in Peru and a major trading post for East Asia. In 1671, a bad arse Welsh pirate by the name of Henry Morgan took hold of the city, taking its booty, riches and foreign goods, then reducing Panama Viejo to rubble. Although some pretty amazing history can be told through the stones, the ruins now lie within a full on ghetto. Big contrast from the wealth of once, to the weather board shacks of today.
The Panama Viejo Cathedral
North view of the city
The Jesuit Convent aka nun city
Map of the old city
