Panama City EN | Marco Gasparri

Panama City

Diseño y Arquitectura is located in Panama, a city in Central America and is geographically famous for its isthmus, where two oceans meet: the Pacific and the Indian Ocean. The name of the city is very suggestive thought, in fact the Italian translation of Panama is “whealth”. Although Panama Canal is one of the elements for which the city is famous, Panama is able to amaze above all for its naturalistic richness and its history. In fact, the city offers 13 national parks and 3 marine parks.

In the same city numerous forest reserves has been created, thus aiming to protect the environment and local flora and fauna. Another famous aspect of Panama is the so-called “Paradise Lost”, an expression which refers to 400 (approximately) atolls of the San Blas archipelago. These obviously represent one the most popular destination every year: tourists remain entranced by so much beauty and by natural spectacles, that could not be seen anywhere else. Besides natural wealth, due to its characteristics the city of Panama has become a destination for tourists and for people looking for a new place to live in. In the past years this city has experienced a strong expansion and it also has been chosen as headquarters of many multinationals. This inevitably led to a development of the building sector and in fact the city today boasts a modern architecture, which is also found in the most recently residential buildings.

The history of Panama is full of interesting aspects. The city was founded in 1519 and the founder was Pedro Aria de Avila. In 1671 the city went through a very difficult time, since it was the scene of clashes with the pirate-led band Henry Morgan. In the following years Panama has been rebuilt and it is now possible to visit the so-called old city, among which we signal above all the stupendous historical center.

Moreover, in 1997 the old city was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site and every year hundreds of thousands of tourists come to visit it and admire its buildings.

Worthy of interest are the Palacio de las Garzas – the Presidential Palace – and the Metropolitan Church. You can also observe the ruins of some of the ancient houses, which have not been rebuilt and which today constitute a historical heritage of inestimable value. The language spoken in Panama is Spanish, but English is commonly used as a second language, although it is not the official one.

The Catholic religion is the one practiced by the majority of the habitants of the area, but there is also a good percentage of Protestants. Regarding money value, the official currency of the city is the Balboa. Actually, the dollar is the most used currency, in fact only official currencies are in circulation, while new banknotes are no longer printed. It is possible to reach Panama from Italy with a ten-hour flight. Applying the area’s time zone, the local time is five hours behind our Italian time.