TOUR OF THE CITY

It can be said that Panama City is three cities in one: Old Panama, Colonial Panama and Modern Panama.

* OLD PANAMA: Here you can appreciate the beauty of the cathedral along with other vestiges of the city that was founded on August 15, 1519 by Pedrarias the Cruel. Considered the Queen of the Pacific in its time, it was an obligatory stop for the great treasures that passed from the Americas to Spain, and thus also a much-coveted prize for pirates with other plans for these riches. It will feel like a stroll through time barriers when you walk Old Panama's cobblestone streets and compare them with the modern city.

* COLONIAL PANAMA: You'll visit the San Jose Church, famous for its massive gold altar that residents painted black in order to fool Henry Morgan, the pirate who sacked and destroyed Old Panama in 1671. Two years later, within stone ramparts built to fend off attacks like Morgan's, the area now known as Casco Viejo or Colonial Panama was founded. The area's buildings come in three old styles: Spanish, French and Italian. In a little section now known as Las Bovedas, you'll find such impressive architectural works as the National Theater, the Metropolitan Cathedral and the French Plaza, with it's dungeons where 17th-century slaves were held.

* MODERN PANAMA: On a par with the world's great cities, here you can enjoy well-designed plazas, modern buildings, pretty residential neighborhoods and green corridors. The most important attraction is the opportunity to browse the most varied selection of shopping centers and stores. Here, in a city whose human mosaic comes from all over the world, you'll find the best Asian fabrics, that Italian jewelry you've always dreamed about and American clothing that you haven't found elsewhere, in short, everything that you imagined and much, much more.

DURATION: 2½ Hrs.