• Closed since 2015
  • One of the largest in Central America
  • 1688 – Construction began
  • 1796 – Finally consecrated
  • Some of the stones come from Panamá Viejo ruins
  • Towers adorned with mother-of-pearl from the Pearl islands
  • Altarpiece carved from seven types of Italian marble
  • Bones of Saint Aurelio are in a reliquary hidden behind a painting of Jesus near the front of the church, to the left of the altar
  • Right of the altar is a trapdoor marking the entrance to tunnels – not open to visitors – designed as escape routes, connecting the cathedral to the churches of La Merced and San José
  • Bells in left tower were salvaged from the first cathedral in Panamá Viejo. Others melted in one of the great fires

The bells reputedly owe their distinctive tone to a gold ring thrown by Queen Isabella I of Spain into the molten metal from which they were cast

 

Next: Palacio Municipal & History Museum