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Baha'i House of Worship
On the outskirts of Panama City, 11km from the city center on the Transisthmian Hwy, the white-domed Baha'i House of Worship looms like a giant egg atop the crest of a hill. The inside is surprisingly beautiful, with a fresh breeze always present. The Baha'i House of Worship serves all of Latin America.
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Calzada de Amador
At the Pacific entrance to the Panama Canal, a 2km palm tree-lined Calzada connects the four small islands of Naos, Culebra, Perico and Flamenco to the mainland. The Causeway is the popular place to be in the early morning and late afternoon when residents head here to walk, jog, skate, and cycle or simply escape the noise and pollution of the city.
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Casco Viejo
Following the destruction of the old city by Henry Morgan in 1671, the Spanish moved their city 8km southwest to a rocky peninsula on the foot of Cerro Ancón. The new location was easier to defend as the reefs prevented ships from approaching the city except at high tide. The new city was also easy to defend as it was surrounded by a massive wall, which is how Casco Viejo got its name.
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Centro de Exhibiciones Marinas
The Centro de Exhibiciones Marinas, a marine exhibitions center operated by the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI), includes an informative marine museum with signs in English and Spanish, two small aquariums and a nature trail through a patch of dry forest containing sloths and iguanas.
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Club de Clases y Tropas
The abandoned Club de Clases y Tropas was once the favorite hangout of General Noriega, though it was virtually destroyed during the 1989 invasion. Some fresh paint was selectively applied in early 2000, when scenes from the movie The Tailor of Panama were filmed here.
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Fuerte Amador Resort & Marina
At the end of Isla Flamenco, you'll find one of the city's newest attractions, the Fuerte Amador Resort & Marina. This complex contains a two-story shopping center (the Flamenco Shopping Center), a marina, a cruise ship terminal and a number of restaurants and bars. At night, these open-air spots are a big draw, providing a fine setting for cocktails or a decent meal. At the marina, daily boats leave for the nearby resort island of Isla Taboga.
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Iglesia de San José
Iglesia de San José protects the famous Altar de Oro (Golden Altar), which was about the only thing of value salvaged after Henry Morgan sacked Panamá Viejo. According to local legend, when word came of the pirate's impending attack, a priest attempted to disguise the altar by painting it black. The priest told Morgan that the famous altar had been stolen by another pirate, and even convinced Morgan to donate handsomely for its replacement.
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Instituto Nacional de Cultura
Instituto Nacional de Cultura is responsible for maintaining the country's museums and other cultural institutions. There is a small gallery on the 1st floor that displays works by Panamanian artists.
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Marine Exhibitions Center
Operated by the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI), the Marine Exhibitions Centre includes an informative marine museum with signs in English and Spanish, two small aquariums and a nature trail through a patch of dry forest containing sloths and iguanas.
At the museum you can also learn about the role that Panama's marine resources play in the country's economy, and the destructive and wasteful effects of harvesting fish and shrimp by net.
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Mercado Nacional de Artesanías
Panamá Viejo buses (around US$1 ) coming from Plaza Cinco de Mayo will drop you off at the Mercado Nacional de Artesanías, or artisans market, which lies beside the bulk of the ruins.
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Mi Pueblito
At the foot of Cerro Ancón, on the western side of town, Mi Pueblito features life-size replicas of rural villages found on the Península de Azuero, in Bocas del Toro and in the Darién. It also features extensive shops selling handicrafts from throughout the country and a handful of decent restaurants. Folk dances accompanied by live music are staged on Friday and Saturday at around - they're touristy but still worth a look.
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Museo Afro-Antilleano
The small Museo Afro-Antilleano has exhibits on the history of Panama's West Indian community, particularly their work building the railroad and later the canal.
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Museo Antropológico Reina Torres de Araúz
The Museo Antropológico Reina Torres de Araúz conveys the rich cultural heritage of Panama with a collection of pre-Colombian artifacts and exhibits.
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Museo de Arte Contemporáneo
Museo de Arte Contemporáneo is a privately owned museum with an excellent collection of works on paper by Latin American artists.
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Museo de Arte Religioso Colonial
Housed beside the ruins of the Iglesia y Convento de Santo Domingo, this art museum has a collection of colonial-era religious artifacts, some dating from the 16th century. Just inside the doorway of the ruins is the Arco Chato, a long arch that had stood here, unsupported, for centuries.
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Museo de Ciencias Naturales
Museo de Ciencias Naturales has sections on geology, paleontology, entomology and marine biology, as well as an impressive display of taxidermy.
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Museo de Historia Panamá
The modest Museo de Historia Panamá has a small selection of exhibits covering Panamanian history from the colonial period to the modern era.
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Museo de la Biodiversidad
Note that at the time of writing, construction on the Museo de la Biodiversidad, designed by world-renowned architect Frank Gehry, was well underway. This much-anticipated museum will be located at the tip of the Causeway.
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Museo de Sitio Panamá Viejo
Adjacent to the Mercado Nacional de Artesanías is the Museo de Sitio Panamá Viejo, which contains a rather impressive scale model of Panamá Viejo prior to 1671 as well as a few surviving colonial artifacts. All signs are in Spanish, though a brochure and tape recording recount the site's history in English.
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Museo del Canal Interoceánico
The impressive Museo del Canal Interoceánico is housed in a beautifully restored building that once served as the headquarters for the original French canal company. The Panama Canal Museum (as it's more commonly known) presents excellent exhibits on the famous waterway, framed in its historical and political context. Signs are in Spanish, but English-speaking guides and audio tours (around US$5 ) are available.
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Palacio de las Garzas
Palacio de las Garzas is named after the great white herons that reside here. The president of Panama lives on the upper floor.
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Panama Canal Murals
The story of the monumental effort to build the Panama Canal is powerfully depicted in murals mounted in the rotunda of the Panama Canal Administration Building.
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Panamá Viejo Ruins
The center of power resided at the Casas Reales (Royal House), a complex ringed by timber ramparts and separated from the city proper by a moat. Within the complex were the customs house, the royal treasury, a prison and the governor's house. Despite the obvious historical importance of the site, past governments have allowed sections of the property to be used as a landfill and for horse stables. Only scattered walls remain of the once-impressive structures.
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Parque Bolívar
In 1826, in a schoolroom opposite Parque Bolívar, Simón Bolívar held a meeting urging the union of the Latin American countries. After many struggles against Spanish domination, Bolívar succeeded in liberating Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela, and he created Gran Colombia, which encompassed all these states. Although Bolívar was unable to keep Gran Colombia together, he is nonetheless venerated as a hero throughout Latin America.
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Parque Natural Metropolitano
Up on a hill to the north of downtown, the 265-hectare Parque Natural Metropolitano protects vast expanses of tropical semideciduous forest within the city limits, and serves as an incredible wilderness escape from the trappings of the capital. It has two main walking trails, the Nature Trail and the Tití Monkey Trail, which join to form one long loop.
