The 23 best known Colombian legends

Known as one of the places with the greatest cultural tradition and geographical diversity, Colombia is a land rich in urban legends that are an essential part of the very identity of its inhabitants.. They leave us great teachings in their wake, heroic experiences and supernatural aspects that leave that magical realism that the nation enjoys.

• It may interest you: "The 18 most important Argentine legends"

Therefore, in this article you will be able to know the best Colombian legends that any Colombian at heart knows, and that are an inseparable part of his culture.

The best known Colombian legends

Each legend acquires its own value depending on the region where its events take place, but which are combined with the rest of the localities of the territory. Flaunting its ability to acquire its own multicultural symbolism.

We are going to know this selection of legends typical of Colombia, with a small text to understand the meaning of each of them.

1. The tunnels of Bogotá

This is one of the best known urban legends in the capital of Colombia, it is said that there are a series of interconnected tunnels with underground passages throughout the capital. The most "known" being the route that leads from the Casa de Nariño (presidential residence) to the La Sabana railway station, as a safe escape route for important figures.

Others claim that these range from the Colegio Mayor de San Bartolomé to the Palace of Justice and the Congress, built by the Jesuits of the college.

2. The shod mule

The story says that a man named Don Álvaro, who used to take long walks without destination with his mule, until he arrived at a gambling house where he spent the rest of the night. One night, while his routine was going on, Don Álvaro's servant took the mule to drink water from the river, but it escaped until it reached the gambling house where its owner was. When he died, the mule continued to roam the city in search of his master for the rest of his nights.

Thus, at midnight you can hear the gallops of a mule, saddled and shod, wandering alone through the streets of Bogotá without seeming to have a fixed course.

3. The dead man's barbecue

This event takes place every All Saints Day or All Souls Day, where residents of Antioquia Grande have reported the vision of a kind of procession, where they take a dead man in a barbecue made guaduas. Apparently, it was a greedy man who when he died, his body fell by accident into the river while they carried him loaded to his burial place, when people crossed the bridge.

Now his spirit is manifested on these vespers, resentful and crying out with grief, while he continues to be taken to a place without any destination.

4. The alligator man

The legend takes place in the riverside town of Plato. He says that once there was a fisherman named Saúl, whose favorite pastime was spying on the young women of the town while they bathed in the pipe. His sexual desire for women was so great that one day he visited a shaman to give him a concoction. that he could transform it into an alligator, he did it and also gave him one to return it to its form human.

Compassionate, he kept doing his thing until one day, he asked a fisherman to sprinkle him with the potion and when he saw transforming, the man came out terrified, throwing the liquid without it touching the face of Saul. Thus, he was left with the body of an alligator but with a human face and ended up being a monster in the eyes of the villagers.

5. The Cucacuy

El Cucacuy is a mysterious man or entity that can be seen wandering naked but with a strange security through the streets of Boyacá to warm up on the grills during the cold nights. There are those who claim that it is a man who was not baptized or that he has a pact with the devil, since He carries with him a long staff from which a gourd hangs at the top, where it is said to enclose demons.

You can feel his presence roaming the streets because he makes a peculiar high-pitched whistle with his thumbnail.

6. The Legend of the Devil

This legend occurs in the forties, when there was a very special and strong respect for priests, since were seen as saints, so people were always very dedicated to carrying the guides that these they ruled. On the road near the Magdalena and Santiago lagoons, the father was walking calmly until he appeared to him the devil and with whom he had to fight fiercely since he was very strong but managed to defeat him, tying him to a stone with his belt.

The father warned him that the only way to get loose was that at dawn he had to draw on the stone a cross, desperate the devil moved to free himself until with his claws he managed to draw a cross inverted. When the father returned to the stone, the devil was not there and an upside down cross was drawn in his place.

7. The Anima Alone

It is said that the souls are actually the souls of people who are paying in purgatory the guilt of their actions carried out in life. It is said that you can hear the whispers of these souls that seem to go in procession through the streets of Antioquia Grande during midnight or early morning, there are even those who say they have seen lights accompanying the whispers, representing the souls.

This apparition is highly respected during the souls' day and Good Friday, as it is said that they help to find treasures.

8. The mother of water

Also known as the mother of the river, she is a female apparition with golden hair, white skin, and large green eyes that often arises from rivers and springs. She is usually known for her healing powers when seen in the daytime. But it is said that at night, he becomes a deceptive and seductive spirit that deludes young people to take them to the depths of the waters and even if he survives, the only way to get out of the trance is to pray with fervor accompanied by the Adults.

9. The Patetarro

It is said that he is a grumpy, unpleasant and sinister man whose appearance is synonymous with bad omen, as he brings devastating plagues and bad news. This is because, as a replacement for his leg, he has a jar where he hides his rotten foot and it is said that if it is released, the terrible smell of it is capable of killing all crops. When she finishes causing misfortune, she gives a loud laugh of satisfaction at her actions.

10. The Yacuruna

He is also known as the Colombian Poseidon, since he is the god of the sea and lives in the lakes and rivers of the Amazon region, his appearance is that of a green reptile with grayish eyes although it can transform into a human with its powers and the animals that inhabit its domains. This is a traditional legend among indigenous communities who assure that he is not only the most powerful god of all, but in human form he is the most charming man that can be know.

She uses her charm to attract curious young girls and boys to play, then lead them into the depths of the world. water, where he keeps them as part of his collection in his palace, until they become part of the underwater village of the God.

11. The patasola

It is one of the best known legends and that remains on a par with other myths of women lamenting their fate. This tells of the banshee of a woman with long tangled hair, large sunken eyes and a pitiful mouth, who does not have one of her legs, so she always walks on "one leg." During her lifetime, it was about a young woman married to a peasant with whom she had three children, but who discovered her having an affair with her employer, who murders in her outburst of fury and cuts the woman's leg while she tries to escape from her, dying due to the depth of the wound.

Consumed by grief, the peasant sets fire to the house and takes his children far away. Since then the one-legged woman wanders lost in search of her children.

12. The Madremonte

Also known as Honeysuckle, it is about the goddess who protects the forests and the jungle, also controlling the rains, the winds and the fertility of the vegetation on earth. But it also protects it by being severe with those who attack nature. It is said that it is common to see her as a sweet old woman covered in moss who visits the farmers, but there are those who claim that she can also be in the form of a beautiful woman with lianas for hair and covered with leaves, which can be seen between the stones of the rivers or in trees leafy.

13. Keralia

The Keralia is known for being a wisp, that is, a luminous spirit that can appear in the form of an animal or a person and is often seen in the places of La Guajira. It is said that it is a creature that likes to appear on the shores of the sea and in the salt flats to enchant the young women whom it leaves pregnant with its gaze, but that when they give birth their womb explodes with different kinds of animals, killing the young woman, while if a young man is found, at once murderess.

14. The Merry Widow

This spirit is very popular in the lands of Cali, it is said that she is an old woman dressed in black as if she were in mourning, but despite her advanced age and her to walk in pain, she is extremely fast, despite that she manages to trick men, mostly drunkards, into following her to the cemetery where she ends up killing them scare. His presence is a bad omen and is said to be a harbinger of tragedy or even death.

Her hatred towards men seems to be due to the fact that in life she suffered such a terrible love disappointment that she decided to make a pact with the devil so that after his death he would torment every man in his life. road.

15. The footlight

The story behind this myth tells that an old woman who when she died was reprimanded by Saint Peter, because she used to be very permissive with her grandchildren and turned them into sinful men. As punishment, he transformed her into three flames of fire, one for her body and two for her grandchildren, and her task now was to bring order to those who strayed from her path.

Now, the limelight appears to all those ill-willed, treacherous and abusive people, as well as young people who disobey their families.

16. The Bufeo Colorado

This is a well-known legend in the vicinity of the banks of the Amazon, it tells about a strange group of men who They had a particular charm and through their songs they managed to enchant women to take them to the river and never again return. At a certain point, one of the mysterious men falls drunk and the tribe decides to capture him, only to be surprised that, upon awakening, the being transforms into half dolphin and half human.

In the midst of the confusion, he took the opportunity to free himself and jump into the river, never to be seen again.

17. Guatavita and the Legend of El Dorado

Many of us have heard of the mythical city full of infinite riches known as ‘El Dorado’, as this legend tells us about its origin. It all begins with Cacique Guatavita, a powerful Muisca leader who unfortunately finds his wife committing adultery. with a warrior with whom she had fallen in love, to which he orders the murder of the lover and forces his wife to eat the heart of the same.

But she fled to the lagoon to sink into it with her daughter. Desperate, the chief ordered the priests to recover his family, but they tell him that impossible since she lives in the depths of the water, with a giant snake that has bridegroom. In a last attempt to get his family back, the chief asks that his daughter be brought to him, however he only gets a girl without eyes. Since then he ordered everyone to pay their respects to the lake by offering it jewels and gold to pray for the protection of the people.

Some time later, this ritual was transformed to form part of an initiation ritual for the new chief, who was anointed sticky earth and sprinkled it with gold, while he was accompanied by his trusted men with treasures, to his destination. Since then it is believed that this is the origin of the city of El Dorado.

18. The Riviel

This story is told by those men of the sea from the oldest times, they tell us that in colonial times, a Spanish ship that was full of gold was faced an Arab pirate ship, resulting in the death of one of those pirates, who before perishing launched a curse against the God of the Catholics. But this one receives a terrible punishment for it, from now on he would become a horrible creature, with blackened skin, dwarf stature and releasing a smell of rotten meat.

Since then he wanders in the starless nights through the Pacific islands with a lucky board and slaying the sailors who have been lost in the waters, in the middle of the darkness.

19. The witches of Burgama

This story takes place in San Juan Crisóstomos de la Loma (formerly known as the town of Burgama) in which it had a terrible event: the inquisition of five sisters who were accused of practicing witchcraft, when they dedicated themselves to curing the sick and people with lovesickness. But despite their good deeds they were seen as heretics and creatures of the devil, although luckily, before they managed to hang their older sister, they had the help of the indigenous people, who freed them preventing their conviction and killing the soldiers and the Spanish captain who found the accusation.

Since then the place is known as Cerro de la Horca and the witches (María Antonia Mandona, María Pérez, María de Mora, María del Carmen and Leonelda Hernández) regained their freedom.

20. Pirate Morgan's Treasure

It is said that on the island of San Andrés, one of the greatest lost treasures in history is found: the treasure of the pirate Henry Morgan, waiting to be found in the depths of the cave that they nicknamed with his own Name. The story goes that this was a greedy man who, on a return from a trip to England, had the unfortunate fate of his boat shipwrecked and the encounter with some sharks that devastated his crew leaving only him as a survivor, along with the great treasure.

However, his luck did not improve as he fell ill on the ground and then dedicated himself to keeping his wealth in such a way that it would not be found. He even wrote a map to his children indicating the exact location of it, but divided it into three fragments to prevent lust for his blood.

21. The big hat

The hat is the representation of a man who is always dressed in black, wearing a huge hat on his head and riding a black horse, His appearance made him so sinister that he could easily hide in the dark, so he could walk freely along the shores of the streets. After he dies, it is said that his soul still wanders the same streets, terrorizing reckless young people, drunkards and crooks, on nights with a full moon.

22. The old woman with the black flag

In the town of Nariño, there is a rural and simple population that is usually hit eventually by strong winds that are so wild and dangerous that you have to take shelter from them in houses to avoid accidents or disasters. But the villagers assure that not all take refuge during these storms, since they usually see an old woman who carries I get a black flag that flutters with the current at its most uncontrollable point and when the day.

There are those who claim that it is this flag that causes these threatening winds.

23. The girl with the letter

This legend tells of the appearance of a little girl who can be seen crying on the side of the roads, in an impeccable white dress, a white veil covering her face, and a letter clutched firmly in her hands. her hands. When people approach her she can hear a pitiful cry as she asks for the letter to be delivered to the destiny that she marks, since she is lost, also she does not know how to read or write and that is why I do not understand what she says. letter.

It is said that the little girl was a girl about to make her confirmation and in the middle of the celebration she was abused and murdered, when those who do not know her story receive the letter, it becomes a heavy object that causes them to fall unconscious.