On the framework of the anniversary of the sighting of the Southern Sea by the Spanish in September 1513, was held at the University of Panama the Encounter, “The Southern Sea 500 years later: an interdisciplinary approach”, and Salón 26 until 30 of August, 2013.

This Encounter is of particular importance because of its interdisciplinary approach on the sighting of the Southern Sea: http://www.up.ac.pa/PortalUp/MardelSur.htm

I participated on Tuesday 27 August with the paper, “Genesis of a World Heritage Property: The Southern Sea, and the Archaeological Site of Panama Viejo and Historic District of Panama,” where I discoursed about the relationship of Panama City with the sea from its origin to its present as world heritage, and in this context I presented an interpretation of the Retrospective Statement of Outstanding Universal Value for the Archaeological Site of Panama Viejo and Historic District of Panama, approved this year by the World Heritage Committee.

Abstract:

“Panama City was born from the need for the Spanish empire to found a port city that would serve as the basis for Spanish expansion in the New World, following the European discovery of the Southern Sea by the expedition led by Vasco Núñez de Balboa. Both events, the sighting of the Southern Sea by the Europeans in 1513 and the founding of Panama City in 1519 are inseparable facts. The geopolitical importance of Panama City earned its relocation at the place called "Site of the Ancón" in 1673, after the tragedy of piratical invasion that burned it to the ground in 1671. The relationship between Panama City and Southern Sea determined its form and function in both seats, as terminal city for strategic routes of maritime an trans-isthmian transit from the sixteenth century to the present day, promoting cultural and technological exchange, and giving rise to unique features that the State Parties under the World Heritage Convention of UNESCO, recognized that are of outstanding universal value, and that the property now called "Archaeological Site of Panama Viejo and Historic District of Panama", is the heritage of all human beings. The Historic District of Panama (Casco Antiguo) was inscribed on the World Heritage List of UNESCO in 1997; the Archaeological Site of Panama Viejo was added as an extension of the initial inscription of the year 2003. Thus, the exceptional importance of Panama, founded by the Southern Sea, transcended the regional scale and became global.”

Presently, the University of Panama shall publish the papers of this Encounter..