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Plan on spending no more than 2 hours at the ruins. You will be able to walk through all the ruin (what's left of them), visit the museum, and even climb up the main church tower.
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Date of experience: November 2020
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+1
The site of the "very first" Panama City also known as Panama Viejo (but not to be confused with the other "old town" part of the city namely Casco Viejo which unlike this site is not a ruin but very much a regular part of the city), to see here are: the ruins & remainders of buildings once existed and some with "blackened walls" & such to see close up (although some mini-compounds or courtyard-like areas being just to view from outside); the 4-storied tower which despite being a ruin itself (a church tower with an adjacent church ruin right beside it) is a "well-preserved" structure where you can go up all the way to the top for some nice views (not just of the site grounds down below but also of some of the city's high-rises & the sea at some distances away) on all four sides although to see just through "narrow windows"; and the small museum about the country's colonial history, specifically about this area I would say, from the time of the first Spanish settlement in the early 1500's to the city's demise at the hands of the English pirates led by Henry Morgan about 150 years later (with my favorite among the displays being the "miniature model", but quite a sizeable one taking up like an entire room, of this very site as it looked during its heydays!). After about a half-hour ride (by taxi or uber) from Casco Viejo, right outside the site entrance are bust statues of the Spanish king & queen in the "Age of Exploration" (which is about the same time Panama was founded), and right inside the entrance and just to the right is some widespread "swamp-like area" (kind of a unique sight to see which likely merges with the sea & where there's also some long bridge on the far side of that swamp).…
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Date of experience: January 2020
1 Helpful vote
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An Old Town tour, lead by a knowledgeable guide, is a must. Don't venture into the red paved areas and you'll be quite safe. All the locals are super friendly and helpful. Negatives: broken pavements and traffic fumes.
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Date of experience: February 2020
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The Weak Knee Traveler wrote a review Jun 2020
Singapore, Singapore11,794 contributions662 helpful votes
+1
There's a museum here which is airconditioned and great to hide from the himidity. The ruins are from the 16th century. There's a tower which is well preserved. Didn't climb it though as the weather was too himid. A very easy site to walk around as it's flat terrain. There's a train which goes around the key sites within this park at a fee. Was pleasantly surprised to see quite a few birdlife here and also an iguana. Bonus of the visit. …
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Date of experience: September 2019
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Very nice to see a ruined old town here. Very informative, easy to reach by public transportation. Must have been a fabulous colony!
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Date of experience: January 2020
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