Abstract

The Historic District of Panama City was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1997 for representing an exceptional example of 17th century colonial urban planning in the Americas. This article focuses on the specific analysis of the deteriorated monastic typology, highlighting its historical role as an articulating piece of the original urban layout designed in 1673 after the transfer from Panamá Viejo to the current location and which continues today. Our methodology consisted of reviewing the different stages of each of these buildings, extracting common events, and identifying the examples of the greatest value loss, with the aim of enhancing and highlighting their historical footprint. This study includes approaches from urbanism, architectural history, and heritage preservation that allows us to discuss possible tools, either for protection or adaptative reuse, to avoid the deterioration of such important historical heritage.

Highlights

  • The Republic of Panama is in the center of the American continent, connecting North America andSouth America

  • Hill looking for higher quality resources in 1673. It was strategically located in a peninsula that was easier to defend and “closer to the islands that were used as the port and near the mouth of a river that eventually became the entrance of the Panama Canal” [2] (p. 2)

  • Entering the 21st century, new restoration works were carried out on the three existing pavilions built at the beginning of the 20th century, and there was a subsequent expansion with the new “Centennial Pavilion” (2000–2003) to transform the building for public administrative use as headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or Chancellery of Panama

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Summary

Introduction

The Republic of Panama is in the center of the American continent, connecting North America and. The first settlement of the city in modern times is known today as the archaeological site of Panamá Viejo. It was the first city founded in 1519 by the Spanish in the American Pacific, near an indigenous fishing village. Today, it is an archaeological site in the middle of a growing modern city. Hill looking for higher quality resources in 1673 It was strategically located in a peninsula that was easier to defend and “closer to the islands that were used as the port and near the mouth of a river that eventually became the entrance of the Panama Canal” [2] These relevant features are the tangible effect of the Transisthmian route that crosses from the Atlantic to the Pacific, that eventually developed into a railroad and the Panama Canal

Panamanian Monastic Buildings
Case Studies
Nuestra Señora de la Merced Convent and Church
Ruinous Remains in the Process of Restoration and Enhancement
Conclusions
Conservation through the Continuity of Use
Historical Attributes Missing
Influence of Legislation
Tendency to Reuse the Most Relevant Monumental Heritage for Institutional Use
Findings
Private Initiative as Asset Reactivation

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