January 2025, I arrived in Panama City. The first place I went was Panamá Viejo. On the east side of the city, facing the Pacific, this archaeological site is the original "first Panama City" that the Spanish founded in 1519.
Panamá Viejo is considered the first permanent European settlement on the Pacific coast of the Americas. It functioned as a hub for Spain's control of Latin America until 1671, when it was looted and burned by the pirate Henry Morgan's raiders. The city center we know today (Casco Viejo) was rebuilt afterwards on a different site.
Ticket Office and Entry
Tickets are bought at the Taquilla (ticket booth) at the entrance. The site is run by the Patronato Panamá Viejo foundation. Open Tuesday–Sunday, 8:30–17:30; closed Monday. Non-resident admission is around 15–17 balboas (the balboa is Panama's currency, at parity with the US dollar).
Ruins and Skyscrapers in the Same Frame
Inside, stone walls of ruins stretch out. The remains of the cathedral, monasteries, and city hall stand scattered, connected by tidy walking paths.
What stops you is that the modern Panama City skyline rises right behind the ruins. 500-year-old stonework and glass-walled skyscrapers in the same frame. The thought that colonization of Latin America started here gives a strange weight.
The Museum — Colonial Era and the Pirate Raid
There's a museum on the site. The room with colonial religious art (bells, statues of saints, paintings, crucifixes) and the exhibit "Arqueología del Ataque Pirata" (Archaeology of the Pirate Attack) based on excavations were both striking.
The pirate-raid exhibit notes that the popular image of "Henry Morgan burning the city" has weak evidence — and that the Spanish themselves likely set the fire while retreating. A reminder that historical "common sense" is rarely simple.
Panamá Viejo isn't "just ruins." Latin America's colonization started here, the city was burned here, and the city moved. With those modern towers behind the stones, I drifted into thinking about 500 years of time.