The proposal was presented by Culture Minister Giselle González to United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Ambassador Elia Guerra on the Isthmus, to be presented at the Center for World Heritage in Paris, France, before April 1. February.
According to González, the Colonial Route was divided into two phases: the first includes the Castillo de San Lorenzo, Camino de Cruces, Casco Antiguo of Panama and the archaeological site of Panama Viejo.
While the second includes Portobelo and the Camino Real.
The proposal aims to make these spaces World Heritage, bearing in mind that the country has others of its kind, such as the Darién National Park and the Coiba National Park; Explanations of intangible cultural nature such as dances and expressions related to Corpus Christi.
According to Itzela Quirós, Deputy National Director of Cultural Heritage at the Ministry of Culture, the initiative involves a new narrative that highlights the importance of these four sites, not individually, but grouped in pairs, so that they can be perceived as a whole and justify yours contribution to the world.
Likewise, it is highlighted that since 2019 Panama has been working to achieve the nomination of the first phase by developing a management plan that must cover the entire route.
This consists of four parts: the description of the components, a diagnosis of the legal framework of the properties, the state of preservation and the management plan.
The decision to be made by the Unesco World Heritage Committee will be known in July or August 2024, but before that, an expert mission from the International Council on Monuments and Sites will come to Panama in October this year to find out about the components of the route.
González, who also presented the proposal at the most recent Council of Ministers, highlighted this process as a country goal.
For his part, Guerra specified that the designation of the Trans-Isthmian Colonial Route is a symbol of the importance of the Panamanian Isthmus to the world, not now but for more than 500 years, and assured that if adopted, it would give Panama an invaluable value worldwide cultural value that will also affect tourism.
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