Panama City

Panama City

Panama City is the capital of the Republic of Panama. It lies in the east-central part of the country, close to the Pacific Ocean terminus of the Panama Canal, in the Gulf of Panama. At the site of the future city, there was originally an Indian fishing village, hence the name, as Panamá means "many fish". The old city, called Panamá Viejo, was established in 1519 by Governor Pedro Arias Dávila and made the seat of both secular and ecclesiastical power. From the Andes, the gold bars were transported north by sea to Panama City, from where they were carried across the isthmus by pack animals to Nombre de Dios or Portobelo on the Caribbean coast, from where they were transported to Spain. The city thrived until the depredations of pirates and privateers curtailed trade. Sir Francis Drake unsuccessfully tried to send a force across the isthmus to plunder old Panama in 1595, but eventually Henry Morgan completely destroyed the city in 1671. In 1674, the new town of Panamá Nuevo was rebuilt by the Spanish conquistador Alonso Mercado de Villacorta, about 8 km southwest of the site of the old Panamá Viejo. Panama City developed and expanded rapidly between 1904 and 1914 with the construction of the canal. Nowadays, the city is by far the largest urban area in the country. The city preserves many monuments from colonial times, including several squares and the cathedral. The city's renovated Casco Viejo historic quarter, which was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1997, has become an extremely popular tourist destination.