Iglesia de la Merced

As I mentioned in a previous post about Panama, it is a city of contrasts where you find the old and new standing side by side.  In this case, the old and new are one in the same.  This was a church that I found while wandering in their Old Town area known as Casco Viejo.  It was all shiny, new stucco on the outside, with some workers on ladders in the process of giving it a facelift.  Since the doors were wide open, I considered that an invitation for some HDR fun and I strolled inside.

Once my eyes adjusted to the light, I could see that the interior had not yet had any updates.  The tile floors were old, the pews were fairly tarnished, and as you can see, the ceiling looks like it might just crumble at any moment.  Plus the window in the upper left is just a piece of fabric hanging where the glass used to be.  In other words, it was perfect for HDR!