| The
City of Panama has been chosen as an American Capital of Culture 2003
The World Heritage Committee of UNESCO inscribed Casco Viejo onto its Heritage
List. The inscription is based on the preservation of the original tracing
of the old city. The offer has the support of diverse international organizations,
and includes the European Parliament. The first American Capital of Culture
was Merida (Mexico), for the Year 2000. It was followed by Iquique (Chile)
for 2001, and Maceió (Brazil) for 2002. The City of Panama, founded
in 1519, was the first European settlement on the Pacific coast of the
Americas.
Casco Viejo
- Architectural Hybrid
In the very
first issue of Escape From America Magazine, we featured the very first
article on Casco Viejo to appear on the internet. Four years have
passed, and we decided to do a follow up. The article on Casco Viejo
was always my favorite article; written when I had more time and less pressures. |
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| We started
off with a few hundred subscribers, and I could manage the website with
two other people, one full time and one part time. Those days are
long gone. We now have 173,145 subscribers, I can be so accurate
because I just checked the stats. I no longer have the luxury of
being able to write lengthy articles with myriad photos, even though we
are far beyond a two man office.
Casco Viejo
is an anomaly in many ways. It is the oldest city on the west coast
of the Americas with a hybrid architecture that is like no other.
A mixture of Colombian-style Spanish, French and Caribbean architecture,
with many buildings over 300 years old. These buildings are currently up
for sale and the area is experiencing a frenzy of renovation, with new
restaurants, remodeled buildings and tourist activity. When you visit Casco
Viejo, if you're like me you'll find that you want half of the houses on
every block. The houses in Casco Viejo are like no other. Every one of
them is unique. When I'm in Casco Viejo I spend my time walking through
it's streets and renovating houses in my mind. While living and investing
in Casco Viejo is not for everyone, it is one of the most exciting places
in Panama City and most readers will want to know about it, and to visit
the area when they visit Panama. |
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| As we said
in the first article, to walk through Casco Viejo is definitely to walk
through history. Buildings sitting side by side can be over a hundred years
apart in age. Amazingly, nothing seems to clash, as if one is looking at
a collage by Henri Matisse or Joan Miró, where each color and shape
no matter how disparate, compliments the whole. Balconies are filled
with clutter, geraniums and bougainvillea vine, clothes hang on lines,
bougainvillea wrap around sculpted wrought iron crafted in another century,
geraniums grow in planters built two hundred years ago. The streets are
brick, and no matter which way they run, they run to the sea, because Casco
Viejo is surrounded by sea. Ramshackle balconies hang over water while
the sculptures of heroic Generals on horseback fill the plazas. Royal palms
stand over the plazas like tall sentinels. Sitting in a plaza observing
it all, one notices that everything seems both very alive and very peaceful
at the same time. There is a certain sureness to it all. |
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Offshore Resources Gallery
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| The feeling
that all of this has always been here so it will surely be here tomorrow
and the day after. It's extended history gives it a firm sense of
place.
Did the writer
Graham Greene sit in one of the plazas? Did Paul Guaguin stroll past
this house or that house? You can bet on it. (Both artists were in Casco
Viejo at different times.) Paul Guaguin did try to buy property on the
Island of Taboga, an island that is visible from Panama City; it is the
home to Escape From America Magazine editor Charlie McElroy. See
The Road
To Charlies House - Living On An Island ~ Isla Taboga - and Replicating
Cinema Paraiso or Resurrecting Isla Taboga's Bakery.
It is interesting
to note that this magazine is actually created on an island. Paul
Guaguin didn't get the house he wanted, Charlie did. In fact, Charlie
got the house we all want. Much of the architecture on Taboga is
like Casco Viejo, and the history of Taboga is actually as rich and interesting
as the history of Casco Viejo. So we've planned a double-whammy for the
upcoming issue of the Offshore Real Estate Quarterly, an update on Casco
Viejo, including the changes that have occurred over the past four years,
and an article on the real estate on the island of Taboga, including the
islands very unusual history. |
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| Something
To Look Forward To
We believe
that these are articles you won't want to miss. We have continued
to receive email over the past four years on the first Casco Viejo article
and everyone who comes to Panama City now wants to see the area.
The articles on Isla Taboga created a similar wave of response, with a
lot of people wanting to immediately move to Isla Taboga. Both articles
will be photo-essay, with plenty of photos of Isla Taboga and of Casco
Viejo, including some side-by-side shots of before and after comparisons
between the first article on Casco Viejo and the way it looks today.
Panama has definitely become the expat haven of choice and for many a good
reason. We strongly recommend that you take advantage of your subscribers
special for the Panama Report by John Schroder. |
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Offshore
Resources Gallery
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| We've reduced
it to $5 total, so that our subscribers could get the information without
paying the usual price of $49.99 plus $ 5 shipping. We also have
a Panama report in our video store for $125; so the $5 report really is
a one time special. One week only - Click
Here - Get the Panama Report in pdf for $5 -
The prices
of property in Casco Viejo and Isla Toboga varies widely, as does the availability
of the properties themselves. As research for the first article I
attempted to purchase houses in Casco Viejo. It wasn't difficult,
I managed to line up two very nice properties. One was a building
near Chorrillo of about 12,000 square feet for $120,000. It was bigger
than anything that I would want for myself. The second was a smaller house
which was priced at $40,000. It would have been a fun project.
Charley has
found houses on Isla Taboga for as little as $12,000 - When I rushed
over there it was already gone. I should have told Charley to buy
it for me on the spot, but I missed that one. There are more bargains
there. You'll read about it in the upcoming issue of the Offshore
Real Estate Quarterly. You automatically get the Quarterly if you
are subscribed to this magazine, unless you unsubscribed to the Quarterly.
In the meantime,
get the - Panama
Report in pdf for $5 - and get yourself ready to rock and roll! |
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Article
Index ~ Panama
Index ~ |
