New medical school endangers historic roadway

THE CONSTRUCTION  in Ancon of a new Falculty of Medecine for the University of Panama  will impact some of the last vestiges of the historic Camino de Cruces say preliminary reports.

The 8 ft wide stone road way  was used for centuries by Spanish settlers  as one of two routes  to cross the Isthmus.

The new facility is being developed by the Ministry of Health and the University of Panama, and studies show that  show that the arking lots and part of the building will impact the Camino de Cruces.

This was reported by Alexis Baúles, representative of the Colonial Route Foundation of Panama, has  requested that measures be taken to protect the historic road.

The situation was confirmed by Javier Edward, director of Historical Heritage of the National Institute of Culture (INAC).

Edward indicated that in the recommendations of the environmental study, he will suggest permanent monitoring during the movement of earth.

To date the Ministry of the Environment has not done evaluations of the subject, because the environmental impact study has not yet been presented.

Two routes
The Camino de Cruces was one of the two historical routes of the Isthmus of Panama that connected the Caribbean  with the Pacific Ocean during the colonial era. Built around 1530, it and the Camino Real, were the only ways to cross the isthmus from ocean to ocean, prior to the construction of the railway in the mid 19^th Century

The road was made of stones, with a width of eight feet (twice the width of the Camino Real) and with larger master stones at the edges.