by Andre Sanchez

The City of Panama was founded by the Spanish in 1519 on the site of a native fishing village.  The settlement was in a strategic position for the route taken by the Spanish plunderers along the Kings’ Highway, or Camino Real, across Panama to the Caribbean ports and then on to Spain in the treasure galleons.

It was because of this treasure that the city came under attack frequently during its early history, the most severe of which was by buccaneer Henry Morgan in 1671 when his men sacked the city.  The ensuing fire destroyed Panama City as is was then, leaving only stone ruins that are visible to this day in the old part of the city known as Panama Viejo. This part of the city has a museum that provides a model of the city as it was before it was destroyed.

It was rebuilt a few years later and on January 21, 1673, Antonio Fernández de Córdoba y Mendoza founded the new city of Panama in what is now called the Casco Viejo in the San Felipe district about 5 miles from the old city.  Called New Panama, or Nueva Panamá, it was an isthmus with the sea on three sides and a moat protecting the other, and chosen for its ease of defence against buccaneers and other invaders.  The old Santa Domingo Church can still be seen in Casco Viejo, and also the ruined cathedral.

Although the new city was not attacked due to its strong position, the Camino Real route was attacked and Portobello, the major port in this part of the Caribbean, was also destroyed.  In fact the attacks became so severe and frequent that the route was abandoned in 1746, and Panama City lost its importance until the mid 1850s.  This is when Panama City became an important stage in the railroad from the East coast to California, a route selected to avoid the native American Indians who controlled much of the mid west at this time.

Until 1903, Panama was controlled by Colombia, and in that year Panama City became the capital of the independent nation.  Probably the biggest thing in Panama’s history was the construction and opening of the Panama Canal.  This gave the city a massive boost and injection of money and Panama City is now a major player in international trade.  Its cosmopolitan appearance is unexpected, especially to people acquainted with other less affluent Central American capital cities.

It was not only trade that the canal brought to Panama, however.  Health and sanitation in the Canal Zone benefited by the American presence and many diseases such as yellow fever and malaria were either eradicated or brought under control. The Zone at this time was under American control, but this created tension between the Panamanians and Americans that erupted in the riots of January 9th, 1964, known as Martyr’s Day and celebrated in Panama as a national holiday.  The ultimate outcome was the handing over of the Canal Zone to Panama.

It is a modern bustling city, with everything to be expected of an international business and tourist center.  The only negative aspect of its recent history was the invasion of Panama City by the USA, which was carried out in order to depose Manuel Noriega as dictator of Panama, and which severely damaged areas of the city.  Fortunately most of this was in the modern sectors and little damage was done to the old parts of the city.

Since then the city has received a lot of investment in transportation systems in the form of two new airports for domestic and international travellers, a new seaport and a new bus terminal that not only make the capital itself more accessible, but have also opened up the country as a whole to tourism. Although the city has developed into a modern metropolis, it still has many poor areas, especially around the older parts, and areas such as the Casco Viejo are not safe for tourists to travel alone at night.

However, Panama City is probably no different to any other major city in this respect, and is just another part of the stormy history of a city lying on one of the main routes of the Conquistadors, and the treasure route from South and Central America to Spain.

A Brief History of Panama City was originally published at http://www.globallifenow.com