According to an old colonial legend of Cartagena de Indias, the devil, enraged by the proliferation of temples in worship of God, attempted to frustrate the completion of the Church and convent of Santo Domingo.
According to legend, in a first attempt the devil appeared before the Dominican architect Fray Francisco de Garayta In charge of the work disguised as a very talented architect, he proposed to change the design of the tower for a more ostentatious one that he had designed on paper, but the architect realized the deception so he expelled the devil by giving him the sign of the cross and saying the Latin “vade retro”, it is said that he twisted in a whirlwind of wind and the staff he was carrying turned into a snake.
(Read Also: Legend of the giant snake of Calle de la Sierpe in Cartagena)
In his second attempt to demolish the tower the devil appeared in the Santo Domingo square and he took a big leap and grabbed hold of the tower and began to stagger from one side to the other trying to bring it down, but after a while and seeing that the tower was not falling he had to flee the place humiliated, so he took a big jump again. and escaped through a water well that was in the middle of the plaza and that was used by the local women for their daily chores.
The well was closed because both the well and the place were left with a penetrating smell of sulfur, although it did not manage to knock down the tower if it left it somewhat crooked, it is said that this is the reason why the tower today It is somewhat uneven.
Origin of the legend
Some rumors that circulated around the legend say that the story was invented by the architect of the work because his calculations failed.
(Read Also: Legend of the Christ of the Expiration of the Church of Santo Domingo de Cartagena)
The reality is that this bell tower does present a difference in level with the façade, and this with the front or apse. But investigations by architects have shown that the façade is flush with the street line, which has been the same since 1594, and the tower was built square with the cloister (convent) and not with the façade, which is why it would be presented such a gap.
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