In each province there is a small museum and this time visit the Museum of Penonomé (Museo de Penonomé), it´s not only about Penonomé, but also about the province of Coclé.
It is a small museum, which was recently remodeled. The museum is located near quincha houses (houses made with mud and straw, and tile roofs).
I had some commitments in Penonomé and in case I had to make time, I devised a plan to tour and take advantage of the time.
As I did not know when I would have free time, I did not make a booking, however, I had no problem entering.
They wrote me down in the guest book and I started the tour. The visit is guided.
The museum has 4 rooms, in the first two it is allowed to take pictures. Where you can see culture, archeology, folklore, religious art and more.
Principal of the 20Th centure – Tejeira Family- Room
They are two floors where it is shown how a house was like, the living room, the bedroom and the dining room, the furniture. They were very simple
The building was a house from the early twentieth century, it belonged to the doctor Aquilino Tejeira and his family.
Perhaps the most recognized person in the family is Gil Blas Tejeria, journalist, educator, librarian, diplomat, writer.
This house was originally of quincha, however, later they had to be rebuilt. You can still see what the ceiling might have looked like.
The museum also has 3 other houses, two of them belonged to other Tejeira people and the last to the teacher Isabel Begovich.
I explain, the museum is 4 houses together, it was already customary that the houses shared a wall with their neighbors, so it was only a matter of making a space, a little wider than a door to be able to pass from one side to the other.
In this room they also tell us the story of the founding of Penonomé, officially on April 30, 1581, although it could have been several decades earlier.
Temporary Exhibition Room
This room has two sections, one where part of the extraction process of some of the pieces in the Museum of Penonomé.
We can see some archaeological pieces such as ceramics, metates, tools and others.
According to the findings, from before 900 B.C. there were people living in Coclé.
The indigenous people were well organized, they were farmers and there were also several cacicaldos.
And another section, where, through photographs, you can see part of the restoration of the San Juan Bautista Cathedral.
Archeology Room
In this room we can see pieces found in:
- El Caño
- El Abrigo Capacho (District of Toabre)
- Sitio Conte, many tombs were found.
Here you can see pieces of clay, some painted, others not, and some more elaborate than others, there are also stone carvings.
One of the things that caught my attention the most was the photo of a golden earring found in one of the tombs of Sitio Conte, the earring is very elaborate, it resembles a mixture of a jaguar and a bat.
Colonial Religious Art and Ethnography Room
We can see from the Sombero Pintado (Painted Hat) (Intangible Heritage-UNESCO) to the materials used to make them, one of the places where they are made is in the District of La Pintada, in Coclé.
It is believed that its manufacture comes from the indigenous people of Sitio Conte, although theirs had a different shape.
We can also see religious articles and the role of the church during colonial times.
Not only did they bring the Faith, but they also defended the indigenous people, which caused miscegenation and also taught them things, like Spanish.
Many of the religious articles that are in the Museum of Penonomé were donated by the inhabitants of Penonomé, since, during a remodeling, some previous pieces were given to some people to take care of them and years later, they donated them to the museum.
Advices
- Since you are in Penonomé, take the opportunity to get to know the center of Panama, it is only a few blocks from the Museum of Penonomé and in front of the 8 de Diciembre Park, near the San Juan Bautista Cathedral of Penonomé.
- Penonomé is a city in the country side, quite large and with many streets and some are one way, if you have never gone, it is better to use an App such as Google Maps (write: Museo de la Historia y la Tradición Penonomeña).
Note
The texts at the museum are in Spanish and English.
Hours
- Tuesday to Sunday,
- From 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Price
- Free entrace.
Booking to go to the Museum of Penonomé
A booking is required to visit the museum, it is made from the Mi Cultura website, click here.
However, if you are near, stop by and ask if you can meet it, if there is no booking, they will probably let it pass.
How to get to the Museum of Penonomé?
By car
The easiest way is to enter the Avenida Juan Demostenes Arosemena (after Guacamaya hotel), however, it can have traffic jam.
Advice: enter through Alejandro Possada street (after Yukas Grill).
Then turn left on Avenida Cincuentenario and immediately right (Damian Carles street), two streets later take a left (La Pintada street).
Continue, you will cross a street that is like a diagonal, and you will arrived, the museum is between two parks and two streets, you can park on that side or in the back.
By bus
Tomar un bus hasta Penonomé, bajarse en la terminal de buses de Penonomé y luego tomar un taxi.
Take a bus to Penonomé, get off at the Penonomé bus terminal and then take a taxi to the museum.
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