The ruins of Panama La Vieja are not the only ruins from the colonial era that remain standing in our country; the Arraiján district has its own. It is about the Ruins of San Vicente in Bique, little known nationally.
There are historical precedents that indicate that these ruins They were built at the end of the 16th century. when Emperor Carlos I ordered the founding of a town for agricultural purposes, what is now known as Arraiján, and within the town he ordered the construction of a citadel in front of Bique beach.
Among historians there is the dilemma that these ruins were part of a church, convent or a customs fortress at that time, and dating back more than 200 years.
Although at first glance you can appreciate its historical value, since it has a lot of archaeological evidence (stone walls from the colonial era), and it has been declared a protected area by the Municipal Agreement No. 24 of April 5, 2012, it needs to be recognized as historical heritage through a legal document, so that the corresponding authorities can keep the place in good condition and that later it becomes a tourist site of great value, both for Panamanians and foreigners.
For now, the Communal Board of Cerro Silvestre is in charge of maintaining (cleaning) around the ruins. These cleanings are carried out twice a month.
“Since we arrived at the Community Board we found out about the Bique Ruins and since then, seeing the value they have, we have been in charge of maintaining it,” he said. Gustavo Flores, representative of Cerro Silvestre.
Flores said that he is fully prepared to help the Ruins of Bique become historical heritage, since the Board have tried to make links with different institutions to see how the ruins can be taken care of, however, he admitted that without a law, the situation is complicated.
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In the National Assembly rests the Draft Law 175 of October 27, 2021, which declares the Bique Ruins in the district of Arraiján a national historical monument, which was presented by theDeputy Yesenia Rodríguez of the 8-1 circuit. It is still waiting to be discussed in plenary.
According to Rodríguez, for the next period of the Assembly, which should take place in July, he hopes that he will be given the opportunity to discuss it in the first debate and pass it on to the plenary to ask for support from the rest of the deputies and in this way can become law of the republic.
“What we want is to give importance to this site, Just as the Ruins of Panama La Vieja have been given, the Bique Ruins have a fairly similar setting, where we want to highlight the importance that was given to that place, and that it forms part of the history of Panama, and not only of Cerro Silvestre”, shared the deputy Rodríguez.
In addition, he added that one of the objectives is to get a little more protection for the place, since at the moment it is only cleaning it and talking with the residents so that they do not place anything heavy on the ruins, nor work on them.
Linette Montenegro from the Department of Historical Heritage of the Ministry of Culture, confirmed that the institution has made its contribution to this initiative, since on May 5, 2022, it delivered the coordinates of the place and other documents to the National Assembly, with the aim of including them in the project.
It should be noted that the ruins are located on private land, and very close to the ruins there are several houses, therefore, Montenegro explained that “ideally, all the coordinates presented in the document should be established for a new farm and segregated from the mother farm, either through a donation made by the owner (who does not maintain these ruins), and grants it as a donation to the municipality of the area where they are located so that it can give all the value to the site, but that will depend on the will of the owner”.
More promotion to the place
The Ruins of Bique are little known in the country, they are even unknown to the locals themselves, this, due to lack of promotion of the place and because of their location, since they are somewhat remote (next to the Bique beach).
For a site to be recognized, according to Montenegro, It depends a lot on its inhabitants value it. One solution would be for the Community Boards to communicate with each other, and promote cultural activities on the site so that people get to know these ruins, especially with the participation of students, both children and adolescents.
The representative of Cerro Silvestre agreed with Montenegro, as he indicated that he would like the schools to Take your children on excursions to see the Bique Ruins, so that value is given to what is in the corregimiento.
Regarding the supposed danger of the location of the ruins, which has been commented on for a long time by some people, it is an issue that Flores does not share, because “Many people have arrived here, they enter and leave normally; danger exists anywhere, there are problems in the city and even in shopping malls, but here in the Bique Ruins, the residents don’t mess with outsiders.”
For Deputy Rodríguez, these ruins are part of our history, and it is of great importance that all children of the country know what was lived in that historical site.
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2023-05-26 12:00:00
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