Interoceanic Canal Museum
Museum on Plaza Catedral tracing the interoceanic route and the building of the Panama Canal.
The museum stands on the cathedral square of the Casco Antiguo in a building of 1874 that began life as the Grand Hotel, was later taken over as the headquarters of the French canal company, and afterwards served as the national post office and courts. It was adapted and opened as the Museo del Canal Interoceánico in 1997, two years before the waterway passed into Panamanian hands, and is run by a private foundation with public support.
Ten permanent rooms follow the story of the isthmus as a crossing point: the colonial mule trails and fairs, the Panama Railroad of the 1850s, Ferdinand de Lesseps's failed French attempt, the American construction of the locks, life in the Canal Zone, and the Torrijos–Carter treaties that ended it. Documents, models, photographs and film are used throughout, and the museum runs an active programme of temporary exhibitions and guided routes.
Highlights
- Ten permanent rooms on the interoceanic route and the canal
- Set in the 1874 Grand Hotel, later the French canal company's headquarters
- Material on the Torrijos–Carter treaties and the 1999 handover
- Overlooks Plaza Catedral in the UNESCO-listed Casco Antiguo
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