Bust of Ferdinand de Lesseps Panama City
by James Brunker
Title
Bust of Ferdinand de Lesseps Panama City
Artist
James Brunker
Medium
Photograph - Photograph
Description
Some of the busts of influential figures involved in the first attempt to build the Panama Canal by the French in Plaza de Francia the Casco Viejo Old Town of Panama City. The central bust in the centre is of Ferdinand de Lesseps, the diplomat and driving figure behind the building of the Suez Canal and the attempt to build the canal across the Central American isthmus. The French canal venture lasted from 1881 - 1889, when what is now Panama was still part of Colombia. A lack of technical knowledge, difficult, unstable terrain and disease (especially the then invariably deadly malaria and yellow fever) all contributed to the project's failure. The French concession was eventually taken over by the USA and a treaty to build it signed with the newly independent Republic of Panama (which the USA played no small part in creating) in 1903. The current canal follows the same route originally envisaged by the French. The building in the background is Las Bovedas, originally a prison, dungeons and storehouses during the colonial period. Casco Viejo was added to UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites in 1997.
Photograph © James Brunker. Reproduction, transmission or publication in any form without prior written permission strictly prohibited.
Uploaded
February 7th, 2021
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