Formerly called plaza de la cathedral, the largest and the most important of the Old Quarter’s squares I ringed by colonial-era buildings and has an octagonal pergola at its heart.

Dominating the square on the west side is the cathedral Metropolitana, begun in 1688 and completed in 1796. The city’s colonial ecclesiastical masterpiece presents a striking façade, with a centrepiece built with stones from the ruins of the Convento de la Merced in Panama Viejo.

Built in quintessential French colonial fashion, the grand tree-storey edifice with mansard roof on the square’s southeast side is the splendid Museo del Canal Interoceanico, which opened in 1997.