PLAZA DE FRANCIA
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The former colonial Place d'Armes was redeveloped in 1922 as a tribute to the unsuccessful French attempt to break through the isthmus. At the far end of the square, facing the sea, stands an obelisk atop which a proud Gallic cockerel looks out towards the canal and France! Its base is surrounded by busts of figures who played a major role in "el esfuerzo francés " ("the French effort", as the Panamanians refer to the French canal project): Ferdinand de Lesseps and engineers Armand Reclus, Lucien Napoléon Bonaparte-Wyse, Léon Boyer and Panamanian Pedro Sosa (when Panama still belonged to Colombia). Behind them, in a semi-circular gallery with arcades, is the story of the canal told by Octavio Méndez Pereira. A plaque also pays tribute to Cuban physician Carlos Juan Finlay, who identified the mosquito responsible for transmitting yellow fever and advocated mosquito population control as an effective way of combating the disease. Just before the staircase is the place where Victoriano Lorenzo, the indigenous hero of the Thousand Days War, was shot in 1903, and the French Embassy, which has the privilege of being housed in a handsome early 20th-century house. Next door, the 18th-century Las Bóvedas ("the vaults") were once used as prison cells. Sculptures depict old trades, one of them María Ossa de Amador, who made the first Panamanian flag.
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Au-dessus de l'obélisque, une plateforme offre un magnifique panorama sur la mer. En redescendant vers la gauche un sympathique marché artisanal propose les fameux chapeaux Panama