Around Town

Casco Viejo:: Panama City’s old quarter, also known as Casco Antiguo or San Felipe, and home to Hotel Herrera.

Declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2003, this charming historic area was established as a fortress city in by Spanish colonials in 1671. Since it’s founding, the neighborhood has attracted French, U.S. and Antillean Canal builders, the Panamanian elite and a recent wave of foreigners, all drawn to the neighborhood’s unique character.

Today, its 12 blocks of narrow brick streets are lined with restaurants, shops, music venues, low-key bars and galleries, scattered among monastery ruins, monuments, renovated buildings and historic plazas. Attractions include San Jose Church and its Golden Altar, Arco Chato, the Metropolitan Cathedral, the National Theater, Plaza Francia, the Canal Museum, La Merced Church, the Presidential Palace, the Esteban Huertas promenade and Las Bovedas.