Casco Viejo

University interamericana of Panama

Raul Mamani 8-872-1371

Culinary Art

Casco Viejo Report

ELCT-103 March 21, 2012

Mag. Brandelis Lamboglia

Introduction
It isthe historic center of Panama City. This is a quiet and charming district of narrow streets, accompanied by the flower-filled balconies of two and three story houses. At its tip is French Park, a memorial to the French builders who began the construction of the Panama Canal, and the beautiful French Embassy. On the boulevard around the monument, visitors have a good view of Mirador Amador and theBridge of the Americas, and to the east the horizon of skyscrapers in the city of Panama.

Index
* The church la Merced
* The Arco Chato
* Las bovedas
* Plaza Francia
* Commemorative plaques
* Paseo Esteban Huertas
* civic buildings
* conclusion

The church la Merced
The church of La Merced is a Catholic church located in the old town of PanamaCity. Initially it was the first site of the city, now called Panama Viejo. After the attack of pirates and consequent destruction of the city, the stone facade of this temple was moved piece by piece to the new city by the year 1680. In the atrium there are two chapels: One of the Virgin of Mercy and the other is a mausoleum. Also this church is the guardian of an image of Charity of Copper, revered byCubans. It has recently been inaugurated in the church a museum with religious historical documents of Panama. These documents include birth certificates, baptisms, marriages and deaths of people of the time and ordinary civilians. Among the papers of eminent persons is the baptismal record of General Tomás Herrera, the marriage of Manuel Amador Guerrero, and the marriage of the poetRicardo Miró. Also you can find some objects belonging to the clergy of old Panama

The Arco Chato
The Arco Chato (beam that connected two ancient walls) was part of a former Jesuit monastery's first university-built Panama in s. XVIII. Defying gravity for centuries, the arch was used at the beginning of s. XX by the promoters of the Panama Canal to prove the rarity of earthquakes in the isthmus.

Althoughit was considered a symbol of pride for the Panamanians, the bow, like most of the San Felipe neighborhood, was victim of neglect for much of the s. XX. By the late 1970s, the structure had already been invaded by tree roots and fungi, factors, coupled with the effects of modern traffic vibration, caused its collapse in early November 2003, just when the Panamanians celebrated theircentenary as an independent republic.


Las bovedas
This space was originally intended to build royal houses, however this is where you build a defensive sites of the city, called Bastion of Chiriqui. In the eighteenth century are built "The Vaults" which gets its name because its system of arches or domes supported on columns. In the nineteenth century to constructa parapet on them.
The great thickness of these walls allows this place to be used as a barracks and prison. One of its most prominent tenant was the guerrilla Victoriano Lorenzo, which was executed on May 15, 1903 in front of the Plaza de Chiriqui, current Plaza de France. These vaulted spaces were also used as depositories and bedrooms. Currently house the offices of the Office of Casco Antiguo, anart gallery at the National Institute of Culture and French cuisine restaurant.

Plaza Francia
The Plaza de Francia was erected between 1921 and 1922 under President Belisario Porras in what until then was the parade of Chiriqui Headquarters to commemorate the French canal company lead by Ferdinand de Lesseps, in honor of the French Republic .The charge of this project was the...