When traveling to the province of Coclé, there is one stop that you must make, and that stop is Penonome. As part of Panama Midwest region, this town has a perfect balance between country and developing city. There is a lot happening there. The locals are kind and courteous people who will gladly point you in the right direction of whatever attraction you fancy; and you should not leave the town without visiting the Penonome Museum.
Located in one of the towns’ oldest neighborhoods, San Antonio, the Museum was created in support of the El Cano Archeological Park. Four houses belonging to local families were donated to make room for this small, yet culturally rich, museum. One of the attractive features of it is its location. It is surrounded by very well preserved colonial structures, that give the impression that time froze in the area and that it is still the 16th century.
The museum has six permanent and one temporary or seasonal exhibition rooms. Amongst these rooms we can find the Pre-Columbian exhibit, the Spanish Conquest, an early 20th Century Living Room, El Cano archeological Park room and a Religious Art exhibit. Exhibits also include customs such as hunting, fishing and harvest collection thanks to a farming tradition that according to some research dates back to 2 8000 B.C.
The temporary exhibit changes on regular basis, always offering something different, such as exhibitions by local painters and art workshops.
Open Monday through Saturday’s from 9 to 4, the Museum offers to both local and foreigners a glimpse of what the town of Penonome looked like in the past centuries, as well as a point of comparison to all that the town has achieved development wise in the last few years. Penonome is a town of values that have been passed on from one generation to the next and this can be observed at the Museum.