Edfwe

EXTRACTED FROM THE BOOK OF PABLO NICOLI:

AREQUIPA AND ITS MYSTERIES, EDIC. 2001.
INDEX

AREQUIPA, BETWEEN HISTORY AND LEGEND:

-It was said about Arequipa

The unknown of the Cathedral
The haunted house of Yanahuara
-The Tuturutu
The Devil's Bridge
The siren of the Bolognesi bridge
Sister Ana of the Angels
The headless friar
Bolívar and the Apacheta Cemetery
The mass of the other world
The Carmen Alto Observatory
The hand of the condemned
The Phoenix Theater
Pedro Paulet
The son of Misti

It happened to the author.

When I was a boy and studying in elementary school, a language teacher read to us in class a
fantastic story, set in the Arequipa of yesteryear, that fascinated me and sparked my imagination.
Twenty-five years passed and I did not remember the title of the story, nor the name of its author and almost
I had forgotten what it was about; nevertheless, I kept the faithful memory of what it meant to me and
I am sure of what it meant for many of my colleagues.
For years I tried to find that old orange language book, where it was written the
A magical tale, and it was just a few months ago, that in one of those places selling used books
I came across the text I had longed for so much. When I had it in my hands, the excitement me
I was overwhelmed and had to make a great effort not to openly express my joy. I asked the
owner about the cost of the book. He answered me that it was worth five soles. I would have paid ten times more
for reading the story again and taking it home. I finally bought it and without further ado opened the text,
I searched for the story and read it as I walked the streets, certain it would be a delightful one.
reading. After so many years, the story fascinated me again. That is one of the eleven that make up the
present book (The Procession of Souls: by Francisco Ibáñez, Arequipa 19th century); which I hope, like to
Me, I managed to amaze them. But it is not alone; it is accompanied by other stories of similar nature. They are
once anthology stories that I know I would have enjoyed reading as a young person, an adult, and later on,
like a grandfather.

I dedicate this work especially to the young in body, but also to the young in spirit, and I hope
may it motivate you to write new stories and that, if possible, you include me in them. Thank you for
to be interested in something that concerns our beautiful Arequipa.

Pablo Nicoli
It was said of Arequipa
Arequipa is the city in Peru with the greatest Spanish influence, and this is reflected, especially, in good
part of its architecture. Its inhabitants, in the first decades after its Spanish foundation in
1540, they were considered to have the highest index of white population. It was for this reason and not because of color.
of their constructions -in the colony almost all the large houses were painted in pastel colors-, that
he knew it as "the white city."
Cieza de León said about Arequipa in the 17th century that: "it is the healthiest in Peru and the most pleasant for
live". Fame that reached Spain; so much so that it is known that the very author of Don Quixote, Miguel de
Cervantes wrote in the 'Canto a Caliope', from the sixth book of 'La Galatea', back in 1685, that: 'Arequipa'
and their children were an eternal spring.
THE UNKNOWN OF THE CATHEDRAL
Among its temples, the one with the most notable features is undoubtedly its cathedral.
The main church of Arequipa is not subject to a rigorous architectural order; rather, it is the work of
inspiration and artistic inexperience. Its beauty is of a whole; examining it in detail reveals
it finds many defects; nevertheless, its defining characteristic is greatness
A legend says that the original plans for the construction of this work were intended for another.
most important city; but due to an error on the part of those responsible who sent the plans
from Spain, the same ones were confused and construction began in Arequipa of what was supposed to be
for a city in Mexico; and we say it started, as the original idea was for the construction to occupy everything
what today is the block between the Cathedral and Moral street.
The architect who built this temple, named Lucas Poblete from Arequipa, was a man of
little illustration; however, he had great artistic talent and was an even better connoisseur of the stone. In this regard
An anecdote is known about his character that describes his detachment. This was in June 1868,
when the two allegorical medallions were placed under their towers. This work was ordered to be carried out
by the named Poblete, years after the Cathedral was built, and went unpaid; for which the
the contractor received a letter asking how much he would charge for that work, to which he responded
with another letter that, knowing that there were no funds allocated for this matter, he would be allowed not to
accept no compensation in this regard; except for what the blacksmith would charge for the pins (2).
Regarding number four, marked with four bars, on the English-made clock acquired
in 1854, which exhibits one of the towers of the cathedral, many have taken it for granted that it would be a
manufacturing error; since the number four in Roman is a (I) and a (V); but the explanation
This is real, this way of numbering was intentional; since in the past people would confuse the
four in Roman numerals, by the six which is the reverse, which is why this alternative was adopted to avoid
incidents with the time. This also explains why other similar clocks, in other parts of the world,
they show the same characteristic.
That the construction of the temple is strong was proven in the earthquake of August 13, 1868, which
despite the eight minutes it lasted - according to the newspaper "La Bolsa" of that time - hardly managed to
bring down a third of its towers and open a crack in one of its vaults.
Originally, the tradition of old was to bury the dead around the temples, and this was
thus in the case of the main church; likewise the remains of figures linked to the clergy or, simply,
important people were deposited inside it. According to some legends, the remains
of the founder of Arequipa, Don Garcí Manuel de Carbajal, could be buried - as was the case of
Pizarro in Lima-, inside the Cathedral; since it was never known where those remains were.
deposited after his death.
There is speculation about the existence of a long underground gallery that, according to some versions, would start from
the Cathedral to the church of La Compañía; in addition, communicating to other nearby temples and that
would lead to the monastery of Santa Catalina. In this regard, it is also stated that one of the
entrances to that underground would be beneath the main altar, according to Mariano A. Cateriano, who says: "The
underground vault of circular shape, where the ashes of deceased bishops rested, was located
also beneath the presbytery and had its entrance on the right side
on the ground).
Regarding the pulpit, it is worth noting that this work was commissioned to be built in the Buisine workshops.
Rigot, in Lille (France). The work was completed in just over a year. The curious thing about the case is that the
The pulpit was ready to be brought to our city in the year 1879, when it had already arrived in France.
news of the war with Chile. It is not understood how - things of the devil, the ancients said - in the midst of
a violent war, and with the Peruvian ports blocked, by the end of that year arrived the magnificent
furniture: Wouldn't it be that the demon of the pulpit managed to overcome all the obstacles that it raised?
hell of war? Who knows? The truth is that on December 16 of that year, a dozen of
Arequipeño artisans assembled the twelve parts with which the beautiful piece of furniture was built.
Other works as valuable and artistic as the very devil of the pulpit are the twelve apostles that make
they line up along the central nave of the temple and, a curious thing, is that those apostles make one think
being stone, they are carved in wood and painted to resemble marble. These statues were
acquired in Genoa, and since the technique for its manufacture has been lost (since it is a
hollow wood sizes) its value, as a work of art, is incalculable.
Who hasn't heard the famous expression: "Who did the wonder? Moratilla did it!" Well,
this is because Don Juan Sebastián de Goyeneche endowed our Cathedral with a beautiful and still
more valuable Custody, which was commissioned in Spain; in the workshops of Francisco de Moratilla, in
1850. This relic was crafted in gold filigree, adorned with a huge amount of precious stones.
At the base, it displays the figures of the four evangelists. This work received many accolades, but
especially those of Queen Elizabeth II, and hence the refrain: Who made the wonder? (4).
Regarding the organ, it was brought from Belgium in 1854, and it was so large that, for it to fit in
instead, it was necessary to bend the crowning despite the great height of the temple. From that organ
It is said that it was at one time the second largest in South America. It was built by Francois.
Bernard Loret, who made two identical ones; his twin is located in the city of Hamburg, Germany.
It is said in a legend that while a priest was officiating a mass inside the main church, and perhaps
demotivated by the years he had in the trade, at the moment of the conversion of wine into the blood of
Christ, and not having the necessary faith that this could actually happen, suddenly from the chalice that he had
From his hands began to emanate a large quantity of blood that stained the fabrics that covered the altar. He
it says that they are kept inside the church.
THE HAUNTED HOUSE OF YANAHUARA
It was the year 1666, and a noble Spaniard arrived in the villa of Yanahuara to settle down and practice the
function of the commissioner. He married a lady who overflowed with attributes due to her extraordinary
beauty. Over time, a romantic relationship arose between a servant of the house and the beautiful
woman. After one of his trips, the Spaniard managed to discover this infidelity, and subjected both to a series
of tortures that culminated in the cruel death of the lovers. The story goes that such was the hatred and the
the despair of the Spanish, who buried them, still alive, walling up one of the walls of the mansion where
they lived. It is due to this event that the large house located a short distance from the church
Yanahuara is notorious for strange occurrences, such as: the clattering of chains, bells that rang.
solas, haunting barks of dogs and ghostly silhouettes, which night after night could be felt. "The
"haunted house", as it was later called, changed owners constantly, because no one
I endured a long time within it.

THE TUTURUTU
What enigmatic figure does the Tuturutu represent? "Bishop Don Juan Cavero y Toledo, thinking about the
ornament of the rising city, ordered the construction of an ornamental fountain in the Plaza de Armas (1735); and the
foundry worker, to whom this task was entrusted, could not bear the constant annoyances that affected his
descendants made the goblins, on one occasion he caught one of them by the ear; he took his mold in
yes, and then, according to the matrix obtained, I poured in bronze to the Tuturutu" (5). Of course, this is only
part of the legends of the city; the truth is that according to Ventura Travada and Córdova, in their detailed
description of the plaza mayor stack refers to, says: "an angel crowns it for fame for which
"the ship rises the water in a very high plume." The question today would be: is an angel without wings and dressed in
armor? Apparently, the Tuturutu would be the same type of angel or archangel that is painted in
many canvases from the Cuzco School, as found in the convent of Santa Catalina or in the church of
The Company, where they are often seen adorned with helmets or hats and silver armor or
of gold. And where did the wings go?
The earthquake in May 1784 destroyed the city and also damaged the enigmatic Tuturutu, the one that was
locked up in the jail, which at that time was said to be located on the El Fierro estate; where it seems
he lost his angel wings; it is presumed that they were used in some manual activity.
Later he was taken to the town hall houses and finally returned to his original location, in the
Main Square
THE DEVIL'S BRIDGE
An ancient legend tells of a dark figure who dedicated himself to stealing and assaulting the
parishioners of Cayma. One day, in order to achieve their dishonest purposes, it led to murder of
a girl, and while she was fleeing, in an old cart where she had hidden everything
achieved as a result of his misdeeds, took the path towards what is today the Juan Pablo II bridge,
formerly known as the Devil's Bridge, where it is said that there was no such depression in the land, and while I was going
consuming his escape, cursing his pursuers and mocking God himself; suddenly!
the world came crashing down!, the ground opened up and swallowed the unfortunate man along with the cart and the horses that he
they guided; immediately the place was closed and only a small depression or 'lloclla' remained, which is what
to this day it survives. A witness who observed the incident from afar could only manage to express about the criminal:
Poor devil!
THE SIREN OF THE BOLOGNESI BRIDGE
Have you ever heard about the siren of the Bolognesi bridge? Our city is not left out either.
from the Greek legends. The ancients say that when it was the season for the rains to approach and to
At midnight, a beautiful woman with a fish tail appeared above the huge
stone that is at the foot of the Bolognesi bridge, in the middle of the riverbed. Eloy Obando, a neighbor, tells
has inhabited those places for 75 years, and the oral tradition passed down to him referred to a mermaid
who was waiting for her beloved well into midnight. The place, which in those times was without what is
now the La Marina avenue had an access consisting of a small staircase that surrounded the ditch, course
of water that flowed through the city on the left bank of the Chili River. At a precise hour, it made its appearance,
simultaneously, the mermaid in the river and a naked man in the Ibáñez alley, dragging some
chains and climbing a pole -which we imagined was to look for his beloved- then, he would come down to the house
that borders the river, to get lost in the middle of the night and finally meet the nymph of the
waters that awaited it in the midst of chants and dim lights that made their way in such a colossal
stone. Before the day clarified, other neighbors say, the stone became a dwelling full
of beautiful young women who were out waiting for some innocent man to take him to their domains.
It is also said that these sirens were the cause of many people throwing themselves from the
high of the bridge against the riverbed.

Sister Ana of the Angels

The Monastery of Santa Catalina was founded in 1575. In that place, many women, young and widowed,
They made their perpetual vows. Ana de Monteagudo was the daughter of Sebastián Monteagudo and Francisca Ponce.
de León; the latter, to ensure the Christian education of their little daughter, enrolled her in the
monastery when she was three years old. At her marriageable age - fourteen - Ana was reintegrated into the home,
well, her father had betrothed her to a young man. She obeyed, but was desperate in a world that
she did not know, decided to flee from her home and return to the convent, where she would remain until her death. Ana
he punished his body with whips and subjected himself to long fasts of bread and water. It is said that, among his
miracles, by simply applying part of the fabric of her habit, tumors and infections would disappear. They were
countless predictions about deaths, diseases, rewards, and others. He died on January 10 of
1686, after long 10 years of painful illness and was buried in the cemetery of the monastery. That
same year, Bishop Don Antonio de León initiated the process of his beatification. In 1731, while transferring his
body to a new grave in the church choir, they found it incorrupt, intact, and smelling of flowers.

THE HEADLESS FRIAR

A legend from Arequipa from the 19th century tells us about the diabolical stride of the 'Headless Friar'.
soul in pain, sometimes gravitating, that was known throughout the city, traversed from side to side the alley of
the Cathedral and always under the protection of the twelve chimes that the tower clock would sound. The specter,
those who had the courage or the bad luck to come across him said that he was dressed in a
old Franciscan habit and inside the elongated hood that was supposed to cover his head, there only
I could glimpse a deep hollow, a shadow caused by the void. The legend -or at least
one of the two versions of the same- tells that the spectral character had been beheaded by the
son of a Spanish nobleman, who due to a minor disagreement, had quarreled with the friar and in the midst of
from the heat of the unequal contest, the head of the latter had been cut off in one blow; due to the strong
strike dealt by the noble's son with the sword. The unfortunate event had occurred in the
cathedral alley, on the side that used to face the 'Forga House'. It is also said that the
the religious figure had been buried without his respective head, for at the moment of decapitation, a dog
it had bitten and taken to hide in some nook in the surroundings. This is why, they say
grandparents, that the friar was wandering in an eternal search for his head. Perhaps modernity, apparently,
he calmed his constant wandering; or perhaps he finally found what he had been searching for.
BOLÍVAR AND THE CEMETERY OF LA APACHETA
On his way through Arequipa, the Liberator Simón Bolívar ordered the construction of a new cemetery, due to
the old one of Miraflores very close to the city; which constituted a serious danger for the
health of its inhabitants. "And he was bringing the remains of the patriot Mariano Melgar, which inaugurated the new
La Apacheta cemetery -which means mound of stones-, on September 16, 1833. It
anecdotal about this last point is that as of today it is unknown in which part of the mentioned cemetery,
the remains of Melgar are buried. Mostajo himself, in his capacity as a researcher of history
Arequipa, no matter how hard it tried, could not locate the remains of the poet.
Arequipa offered Bolívar a lavish welcome; gifts and celebrations took place everywhere.
One of the tributes that moved the Liberator the most was that of the female students from Arequipa who, in
gesture of gratitude for independence, they delivered the donation of jewelry and precious stones that they had
gathered for his army; the response from Bolívar and his soldiers was nothing other than to detach themselves
from their assets to donate them in turn to the students and orphans. Likewise, the merchants of
the city held a sumptuous ball in his honor" (8). Perhaps because of all this, a letter from Bolívar addressed
General Francisco de Paula Santander says: "The country is quite beautiful and Arequipa splendid."
THE MASS OF THE OTHER WORLD
A legend tells the sorrowful story of a young man who, having fallen asleep on a bench
inside the cold church of Santo Domingo, suddenly upon waking he found himself a prisoner of darkness.
place, being a witness, unwillingly, to the ghostly appearance of the famous headless friar, who
After lighting some candles, she asked the boy to come closer to the altar; that his only
The intention was to celebrate a mass and for this, he required someone to be his listener. Even with
all the fright the boy felt, he had no choice but to witness such an unusual ceremony and to abide by
the circumstances. Finally, once the mass was celebrated, the candles unexpectedly went out and the young man
In his desperation, he tried to escape as if he were an ethereal entity, achieving through his recklessness.
to break one's head against a hard door, only to finally fall senseless on the cold tiles of the temple.

THE CARMEN ALTO OBSERVATORY

From Arequipa, a moon of Saturn and a new asteroid were discovered. The North American university
from Harvard, in 1867, deemed it appropriate to establish an astronomical observatory in the southern hemisphere
of the planet. To this end, he sent a group of scientists to find the best possible location. Afterwards
After having visited most of the Latin American countries, the delegation decided on Chosica, in Lima;
however, the adverse weather conditions became an obstacle, which led to
decided to look for a new location. In 1889, Professor Solon Bailey and his entourage left Callao
heading towards the port of Mollendo. Almost immediately they left for Arequipa and upon arrival they remained
impressed, as deduced from a letter sent to the United States: 'It is surprising, the
the city is truly beautiful and picturesque, much better than any other we have seen in Peru,
It lies in the middle of an extensive countryside with plains and hills that extend beyond where they can
see the eyes. The city is built with a white stone that from a distance looks like marble...
The scientists installed the observatory in Carmen Alto, in the district of Cayma, whose property, at that
then, he belonged to a family with the surname Ramos. In 1899, Harvard University sent a
Arequipa the famous telescope "Bruce", 24 inches, being the most modern in the world at that time.
Then. From Cayma, the ninth moon of Saturn, called 'Febo', was discovered that same year,
its existence was fully demonstrated five years later. In 1901, a new asteroid was discovered.
Solar System, the number 475, named "Ocllo", in honor of the sister-wife of the first Inca.
Likewise, important studies were achieved on the Magellanic Clouds, which are located 163,000
light years from Earth. The Carmen Alto observatory saw its end in 1927, when it was dismantled.

THE HAND OF THE CONDEMNED

A legend tells us about a doomed girl, who after three days of having been
buried in the cemetery, she began her terrifying work of showing, from time to time, one of her pale
hands over the earth; as if wanting to grasp or hold onto something or someone. It was in this eagerness that the
the local gravedigger noticed, not without getting quite a scare at first, the unusual event, and was
to inform the village priest, so that he could put an end or a holy remedy to such kinds of situations
ultratomb. When the priest, upon going to the cemetery, confirmed the event, he unknowingly became a victim of the hand
that he strongly grabbed one of his feet; which led him, desperately, to defend himself from the terrible
pulls and scratches from the condemned; this thanks to the help of a whip that he had been so kind as to bring.
Once the impasse was resolved, he had no better idea than to approach the girl’s mother’s house, and
to ask him how she had been in life. Upon learning about the usual mistreatments,
that for eighteen years the mother had the habit of receiving, decided with the corresponding permission of
the relatives exhumed the body of the condemned -this with the help of the gravedigger- and buried it again.
in the pit; but this time face down, so that it would only annoy the souls of hell.

THE PHOENIX THEATER

In 1825, and thanks to a society of the wealthiest gentlemen of Arequipa, it began to
raise the necessary funds for the construction of the Fénix theater. This committee agreed to entrust him
the plans to the famous French engineer, Eiffel, author of the tower that bears his name in Paris (Eiffel
he also made the plans for other important works in our city such as: the metal structure
from the roof of the San Camilo market, the train station, and the Iron bridge). The work is underway
of construction, it could not be finished for various reasons, and it was left without a roof; it was placed,
provisionally, one made of canvas like the tents of circuses. Under this roof countless performances took place.
lyric, dramatic, comic companies and others.
The theater did not have its own furniture; it was customary for families who rented boxes,
they had to send the chairs in advance. A curious detail is that with the canvas roof, when it rained
-as it used to rain in Arequipa before-, the people in the stands had to open their respective umbrellas to
not getting wet. This canvas roof lasted until the year 1890, when it was replaced by a more
convenient; but not appropriate. Between 1916 and 1917, although some claim it was before, the theater was
converted, in turn, into a movie theater.

PEDRO PAULET
The Arequipeño Pedro E. Paulet (1874-1945) was the first precursor of powered aviation and
pioneer of space travel. He devised the first engine powered by liquid fuel, and was also
inventor of the propellerless airplane. Engineer Paulet was ahead of researchers like Tslolkovsky (Russian),
Goddard (American), Oberth (Hungarian), considered as the oldest researchers of the
space era. This great Arequipeño revealed his designs in 1895, Paulet engine; 1900, industrial engine with
three rockets; and in 1902, diagram of the torpedo plane for vertical and horizontal flight. I used to go out to the field.
to experiment with starting rockets, to which I added a load made up of
small living animals, in order to observe the effect that speed or extent had on them
flight. He solved the fundamental problems of propulsion; unfortunately, he had to abandon his
bold experiments, to meet the practical and immediate demands of their public functions.

THE SON OF MISTI

When I was a child, I always heard my father talk about the son of Misti - a small volcano, a copy.
from Misti, which we could clearly see as we traveled through the city on our way to the airport - which had been
chained, so that it could not grow and cause harm. Of course years later -already an adult-, I thought
that this story was just part of the city's legends; nonetheless, and apparently all of this, had
much of it is true, as it is inferred from a journalistic article from the newspaper El Pueblo (1997), it
It refers to the story of a certain Father Sanhuesa, of whom tradition says that he also made an ascent to the...
Misti straightened the cross that she found fallen. It is said that out of fear that the son would be, in a few years,
worse than the father, the people from Arequipa asked the mentioned character to do something to stop the
growth of the small volcano. No one would believe it; but that's what the priest did, who ordered its construction.
some enormous iron "straps" and with them he tightened and compressed the small volcano, so much so that it could no longer
to grow and ran out of strength to erupt. They say that it remains this way until today and that if someone
doubt, take a journey of twelve leagues to the place, and you will find it more trapped than a baby of an Indian mother.

These are some legends, rarities, anecdotes, and others, not well known from the history of Arequipa.
Our recognition to the following authors and historians, without whose help it would have been
It's impossible to send you this small review in homage to our beloved city.
THE AREQUIPEÑOS ELVES

They are the goblins, according to our Arequipeña legends, little boys.
shining or simple children of small proportions who are invisible to the impure adult; but
visible to pure children or to animals, who are naive" Other times they are: old, bearded and
little ones who spend all the hours they have -which are the most- having fun with the
humans, who are subject to all kinds of jokes, the good ones and the other kinds. In the first case, they
they do acrobatic tricks and circus spins, somersaults in the air, delights of ball-catching and
laughing out loud. They hide under the beds, among the cupboards, behind the furniture.
heavy, at the door joints, in the dark alleys; they steal the keys from the locks and
they throw them among the grass, tie the legs of the pants, and on some occasions, they touch a
a flute or a small drum that, as in the case of sirens, captivates people's will, allowing themselves to be
carry with their magic to their domains. They guard treasures hidden for centuries and know well where to find
gold. In the second case, they are evil and dangerous entities that instill terror in those who see them, and to
sometimes until death; this happens when they stick to our backs invisibly and there is no
then how to rid oneself of them, which inevitably leads to a fatal outcome.

It is said that the origin of the goblins is from those children who died without being baptized or who
they are the fruit of their parents' sin who threw their fetuses into the rivers; those of this kind are the ones who dwell
under the springs or behind the waterfalls. It is also said that women who have relationships
sexuals outside of marriage and who do not give birth, goblins urinate. It is also said that they came
hidden inside the saddlebags of the Spanish conquerors. They lull men to sleep
blowing in their faces or, on the contrary, reviving them with the same act. It is said that their excrement
they are yellow and when the first rays of the sun fall they volatilize. Sometimes they mimic crying
of babies and they are confused with them.

There are some ways to get rid of these malevolent presences: one is pinching the ear of a
child; this has the effect that when the goblin hears the child's cry, it flees or disappears
instantly. Another way to prevent children who died without the sacrament of baptism from
turn into goblins, it is to make the sign of the cross with holy water and then bury it next to the
small, a cross also blessed.

AREQUIPA AND ITS STORIES OF GHOSTS.

Apparently, the ghost legends in our city somehow seem to relate more to the
female sex, as among the Arequipeña traditions there are stories such as the following:

The Apparition of San Pedro Street

Tartufo Murillo is the protagonist of this legend, who, after returning home late and pondering on the way...
San Pedro street, observes in the midst of the great darkness, an elegant lady, dressed all in white and
which is heading towards their meeting. Don Tartuffe becomes excited, as it could result in an unexpected romance.
however, when the two characters are very close to each other, the woman starts to
rise into the air; it is a soul from the beyond. Don Tartufo Murillo pales, moistens his
pants and slips out as best as it can through the first ajar door it finds; and once
inside a dark room, he hears a cavernous voice saying: Oh, unfortunate mortal, leave
let my sins be redeemed; do not disturb the rest of the dead!

Our frightened protagonist, upon hearing this, faints and falls to the floor.
Apparently, and as they say, the restless soul belonged to what was once a free-spirited nun in life.
Santa Rosa Convent.

THE TERRIFYING GHOST

Since 1830, the inhabitants of the city were terrified by the presence of a ghost that,
Since eight at night -in a time when street lighting consisted of some candles,
placed at the entrances of the houses, it wandered the streets making its chains clatter. It was about
of a colossal soul, dressed in a black tunic and a huge cone, which made it look even more
terrifying.

The prefect of that time, a skeptical gentleman on the subject of spirits, with the surname La Fuente,
ordered a night patrol to be placed on the streets where the ghost was known to appear.
In the first incursion of the patrol, it had the misfortune of encountering face to face with the
huge woman, who with little effort made the four men flee in terror,
they made up the group. Once the prefect learned about the embarrassing event, he decided to go himself,
accompanied by an aide who did not know fear, to capture the ghost that was lurking around the
Saint John of God Hospital. When the two men came face to face with the huge being
-the one that this time, moved its rusty chains from side to side-, did not give an inch in its
attempts to capture the wandering soul that was in front of them, on the contrary, they moved forward determined to catch it,
and suddenly they noticed how the supposed ghost went from aggressor to victim and began to flee with
destination to the morgue of the aforementioned hospital, where she was finally discovered, hidden in the
darkness of the place.

It happened that she was a distinguished lady who had pretended to be a ghost, for she had been
mocked by a guy, whom I waited for on the streets where he passed every night,
with the purpose of killing him; and thus achieving his revenge. So that no one would know his identity, he had been
what happened to pretending to be a ghost.
The Weeping Woman

It is said that the 'Weeping Woman' was a woman who lost her children and, in her terrible suffering, she cursed the
blame this misfortune on God; later committing suicide. The tradition says that at night he would go out to
to roam the streets and the roads in search of their children, and one could hear her crying out as she wept: Oh, my
heeeeeeellooooo! Those who have seen her say that she is dressed in a white tunic, sometimes tattered and dirty, and her
the face is that of a beautiful woman and many others, that of a corpse. It is said that hearing her cry is
omen of diseases, misfortunes, and death. Only the cross intimidates it or makes it retreat. Many
sometimes she appears at the edges of the roads, waiting for a car to stop and take her.
There are drivers who have refused to pick her up and even have run over her foggy.
image; but those who, without suspecting anything wrong, have had the misfortune to pick it up, have listened
her words like: 'I crashed at this curve!' 'Here I found death!' And suddenly the woman
disappears.

The Headless Bride

The legend says that a distinguished lady who was about to get married crossed the street headed to the church of
She fell when suddenly a cart ran over her and her head, decapitated on the spot, started rolling towards the
entry of the holy place. Of her, who had the misfortune of dying before reaching the altar, it is said that
she wanders at night around the square of Cayma and is always seen in her white dress and
blood-stained, holding his head with one hand and crying over his misfortune. They claim that the
dogs go crazy when they hear it whimper. In these last aspects, its history has certain similarities with
the legend of the weeping woman.

So if you return home by a lonely street late at night, and along the way
observe the silhouette of a strange woman in ancient clothing, who approaches you mysteriously,
it would be better to change course and move away as quickly as possible from the place, and not resort to their gifts
of Don Juan; lest the souls from the beyond want to play a bad trick on him.

ENIGMAS ON SAN FRANCISCO STREET

On the last block of San Francisco street, which leads to the square of the same name, many people
those who work in commercial premises, restaurants, and others, state that the sector is extremely burdensome;
that is to say, there are a kind of strange phenomena like 'poltergeist' (movement of objects by themselves
solos) and appearances (materialization of ghostly entities). Among some rare stories are told
having found inside one of the well-known restaurants, a circle of knives stuck in
about a table. Doors that close by themselves and that cause tremendous scares to workers who
Many times they are locked in small habitats. There are those who also say they have seen the
a figure of a boy in ancient garments strolling through a dance hall crowded with hundreds of
young people, who hardly question who it is about. It is said that this child died.
accidentally inside that house and seen ascending stairs that no longer exist today, or
to pass through walls without anyone being able to stop it.

When we were inquiring a little about the multiple stories that are told in that block, there was
more than one who looked at us with suspicion and did not want to trust us with what they had seen or lived regarding it; without

embargo, we believe that such supernatural manifestations give a touch of romanticism to the block
Franciscana and, who knows, it could even become a tourist attraction in the near future.
one of the many legends told about Arequipa.
THE TUTURUTU: A FORGOTTEN ARCHANGEL?

Ventura Travada and Córdova, in his book: 'The Soil of Arequipa Turned into Heaven' (1752), details about
detailed form in which the fountain located in the Main Square of Arequipa is arranged, and among
Crown her with an angel for fame for whose ship the water rises to a great height.
feather..." Supposedly the author is talking about the famous Tuturutu, but our character from the
Plaza de Armas does not have wings, to be considered an angel or an archangel. It is also known that the font
it was dismantled in 1907 and the Tuturutu kept for many years (until 1920) in a courtyard inside
which at that time was the prison and is now known as Fundo El Fierro; therefore it is stated,
gracefully, that the Tuturutu was in prison.

Two hypotheses could fit to try to explain the matter. The first is that the angel that Ventura talks about
Travada and Córdova is not the same as the bronze statuette that today crowns the fountain in our Plaza of
Weapons. The second would be that at some point the Tuturutu lost its wings and this could not happen.
when it was dismantled, as there are photos from 1850 where it is seen in the same condition that
today.

If we observe the Tuturutu closely, we can see that it is wearing a helm, with a short
headdress; a medium-length hair protrudes from the back and an armor over the body that has a
circular figure at chest height, then a kind of shorts or short pleated skirt in the style of the
Spanish conquistadors, and finally, a pair of boots, one of them somewhat deformed: the one for the leg.
left. If we observe the archangels depicted in the paintings of the Cuzqueña school, we will be able to
identify some that are very similar to our Tuturutu, even some play their trumpets;
Similarly, at the top of the organ that is inside the Cathedral, two can be observed.
angels who carry trumpets. The possible archangel in question was known in ancient times
like Raguel and was deposed from his position by a Pope in 745 AD for being considered a demon
archangel dress. From this character, it is written in an apocryphal manuscript (Revelation of John) the
Then He will send the Angel Raguel saying: sound the trumpet for the Angels of the cold,
the snow and the ice, and calms all kinds of anger in those who rise to the left." As we know, the
character in question is located facing the Municipality of Arequipa and, therefore, its
to the left are the Flower Portals, where merchants have always been. This apparently does not tell us.
a lot, but it occurred to me that perhaps the Tuturutu had not always been located facing towards the
same address. It was while reviewing some ancient drawings of the Cathedral of Arequipa and its
environment, I discovered one made by E. Riou, a Frenchman who was in Arequipa in the mid-19th century,
and he was accompanied by another foreigner, somewhat more known, called Paul Marcoy, Count of San
Cricq, who left us his experiences when he was in Arequipa. In that drawing it is observed
Clearly, there is a character on the stack that seems to be an angel without wings; the interesting thing about
this recording shows that the supposed Tuturutu is looking towards the Cathedral, therefore, his
left is towards the Portals of San Agustín, or better interpreted, to the lands belonging to the
Order Agustina. As we know, it was Bishop Don Juan Cavero y Toledo, son of Don Alvaro C and T.
(Jesuit), who donated and had the Tuturutu or supposed archangel Raguel placed in the center in the year 1735.
the Plaza, ecclesiastical authority that apparently had certain disagreements with the Augustinian Order.
If the above is true, it is clear then the why and the meaning of that archangel being located,
initially, in that place and in such position.

However, the document written by Ventura Travada and Córdova is not the only one that gives us certain
lights on what the Tuturutu really represented. We will reproduce part of an article
published in the Caretas magazine of Lima and says:

The restoration of the Fountain in the Plaza de Armas (or Main Square) of Lima was progressing smoothly but a
A strange apprehension hovered over architect Jorge Orrego Vargas, in charge of the work. Suddenly,
when he was climbing in the pool, the light came on: "It's an angel," he said to himself. And when his eyes looked at the
At the fountain's auction, there was no doubt. The Angel of Fame had crowned her again, just like 97 years ago.
The one who had the same idea was the mayor Alberto Andrade, who had suggested to Invermet to call for a
contest to replace the deity. Orrego, who apparently already had celestial influences, won the
call. Then came the presentation of the studies and a model of the angel before the INC that
approved the project. There was a need to make up to six angels to reach the final prototype.
bronze. The angel weighs approximately 145 kilos, including the eight columns of the base and measures 1.43.
trumpets. IT PLAYS A TRUMPET and carries the coat of arms of Spain like its predecessor from 1648.

The Angel is similar to the one that Viceroy García Sarmiento de Sotomayor, Count of Salvatierra, ordered to be forged.
together with the fountain in the mid-17th century. The original design was by Pedro de Noguera.
In 1900, the then-mayor of Lima, Federico Elguera, ordered the plaza to be repaired, for which it was necessary to
bring down the angel. The workers did so with such bad luck that the statue fell. There was talk of restoring it.
but he never flew again, perhaps because of the myth that he was made of gold.

The approach of the statuette or ANGEL OF FAME mentioned with the Tuturutu is clear. It is not strange,
well, the presence of an angel over the font.

So the question is when did the Tuturutu lose its wings? Perhaps this question will never be answered.
definitively answered.

To conclude, we would point out that if you have been observant, you will have noticed that the left arm
The Tuturutu was considerably shorter than the right. This is because at some point our
character, also lost the forearm and a quick exit to solve the problem was to stick the hand
(which apparently was not lost) in the elbow of the bronze statue. It is logical to think that if the Tuturutu
lost part of a limb, why not even more so the wings, which due to their location in the
body, are they weaker than the forearm?
In the last renovation and delivery made by former mayor Guillén, of the fountain in the Plaza de Armas, there
I could see that today our Tuturutu has a new arm, which gives it a different vibe, but
definitely attractive. In any case, the famous character will always be more than just an ornament that,
perhaps as this article points out, it even has a name. This little man has become a
symbol that makes all Arequipeños proud.

THE OLD CEMETERY OF MIRAFLORES, AREQUIPA.

By: Pablo Nicoli Segura.
The Arequipa of the 19th century.

Before the construction of the La Apacheta cemetery in 1833, the dead

they were primarily buried in the now-disappeared cemetery of Miraflores
(construction began in 1793), where it is currently still located.
district of our city. One wonders what happened to the remains of
those people? Will some bicentennial bodies remain buried
underneath the dozens of constructions of today?
The ancients used to say, among them the great-grandfather, that when they were children they spent their
time playing hide and seek, the most popular and spontaneous game of
those years and that today has almost been forgotten among the boys. Children and
girls, young women and young girls and a few still hairless adults were hiding
around the corners of neighborhood squares, behind the benches, through the
corners of the dying alleys next to the tall stone houses, perhaps
under the shelter of an old almost dry tree and they were waiting crouched for the
the counter -who sometimes counted up to a hundred- would finish his work and start his
tireless search for the hidden companions. Well, the great-grandfather and
the kids liked to play this game; but to give it something more
seasoning and spiciness -not precisely that of rocoto- they played near the cemetery
quoted. They also played it inside the cemetery, at those hours when the
afternoon languishes and night wraps itself in its shadow. If you believe that the
The actual electric lighting in Arequipa is deficient in some places;
think about what it was like in the 19th century based on candles and -what fed it
for a few cents the "sailboat" - on colonial doors and windows and a few others
lamp also based on candle that many times the wind extinguished, on
everything in August. In those years, the cemetery was not closed as it is done
now, around six, there was someone watching over the graves of
possible criminals or sacrilegious; for they all had a deep respect for
the dead and their manifestations and, of course, to the old priest of the neighborhood,
that with a whip in hand, took away your smoothness when confessing to him in your ear your
sins and pranks; moreover, that part of Arequipa had grown so much that
He had surrounded the cemetery, and from the windows of the houses, the ...
macabre canvas of the city of the dead just a few meters away. But without
to stray from the path and the history of the great-grandfather, he told himself to
your children and grandchildren when someone from the game hid in a newly dug pit
dug up, or moved some niche with the cracked coffin and lay down next to a
a heap of centennial bones, then things really got serious
I made for the one who was searching; for suddenly, in the midst of the moon's twilight,
I heard the cavernous voice of a weary soul - in reality it was someone from
group that tried to scare the seeker away from the place by appealing to fear-
And one had to know how to differentiate between the real dead and those who pretended to be.
go through these. But there were occasions when the game became something
seriously and one would pale at what he saw in front of him; very close to a sculpture
a stingray or a crooked cross. Remember the great-grandfather having traveled half of the
cemetery, to have heard the call -the church bells- to mass of
the deceased and suddenly realizing the presence of some lights
undulating and dancing; undoubtedly souls in torment, no taller than a
goblins of the little ones, who seemed to be making a procession along the
short path, scattered in front and behind, and some farther away; but
equally terrifying, on the sides. Not knowing where to flee, as
anywhere the distance was equally far, he made a desperate run for
anywhere, shouting at the top of my lungs for help and sinking the holed
shoes from time to time in the cold land of the dead; while in fits and starts
it broke countless bones that sounded like dry branches shattering.
Of course, his shouts motivated the flight of about twenty boys.
equally frightened as they ran away in terror, each one to their home - with some
what other pacpaco -night omen bird- flying over their
heads, to tell a story equally macabre; even if they had not been
key witnesses to this. For many weeks, no one from the neighborhood
he dared to repeat the adventure of the game inside the old cemetery. Just something
more than delimiting, being the old cemetery of Miraflores a place where
I buried people in the traditional way, that is, underground and not in niches.
as it is today in La Apacheta, it is possible to find an explanation for those
dancing lights that the great-grandfather always swore were a product of the beyond (*) and
that brought more than one night of unease to our relatives.

(*) It was surely about the so-called will-o'-the-wisps that mainly appeared in
cemeteries and other places where a person, animal, or treasure had been buried. It happens that both
organic substances like other not necessarily of this nature, when they have been buried
they emit certain gases -sometimes toxic, also known as antimony- that upon contact with the
oxygen from the surface of the earth tends to ignite like the flames of a candle; but even longer,
What is linked to a place of the afterlife, people tend to think it is about souls. Of course, in the 19th century, not
There was someone to explain these things to the great-grandfather.

MIRAFLORES II CEMETERY (Arequipa)

By: Pablo Nicoli.
Cemeteries have always exerted a powerful influence on countless people.
inexplicable attraction, a combination of architectural beauty in contrast
with the retreat and death framed in the purest romanticism.
I must confess that many times I have passed by the cemeteries, not always
with the purpose of visiting the gravestone of the deceased relative or praying at the foot of the
tomb of the friend, I have visited them more to contemplate the beauty of theirs
mausoleums and sculptures, to experience the tranquility of its avenues and
because within the apparent solitude, I have never truly felt alone,
on the contrary, a living visitor in a city of memories and skulls.
It is not surprising then my intentions to investigate history and the
oral tradition; sought the sources that would lead me to the old cemetery of
Miraflores, in Arequipa, today visually nonexistent.
The bibliographic references are scarce and that motivated me even more to
investigate and talk to the great-great-grandchildren of the people who were buried there.
Together with the cemetery of Cayma, these are the oldest cemeteries.
from the city, except for those cemeteries adjacent to the churches
Arequipeñas or convents, in which they were buried anciently and traditionally.
In fact, it was Simón Bolívar, on his way through Arequipa in 1825, who thought
in the health of the inhabitants of these lands, expressed his opposition to the fact that
that cemetery would continue to be used, as its location was very close
in the center of the city, as well as its boundaries widened each time
more a product of the epidemics of those years.
Of the books I consulted, the most relevant documents were those that
lyrics say:
(...) Starting the project in 1793, it had not yet been completed.
In 1796 (...) The new intendant Bartolomé María Salamanca says that when
he took charge of his government found the cemetery (of Miraflores) in
foundations and that due to his drive he concluded it with two plastered ossuaries and
bleached and inaugurated it on May 3, 1798." (Historical Evolution
Urban of Arequipa. Page 92. Ramón Gutiérrez.
The old cemetery of Miraflores was formally closed and its entrance
it was sealed and the exhumation of corpses was prohibited in it, as well as
in the monasteries of the city for fear of epidemics; the nuns
Catalinas came in request to Orbegoso, who was in Arequipa.
asking to be allowed to bury their dead in the convent; the
The president, considering that the number of nuns was short, accepted that the one of
the three Arequipa monasteries were buried in the cloisters, in a
a place other than the Church. (General History of Arequipa, Foundation M.J.
Bustamante de la Fuente. Page 459 (Eusebio Quiroz Paz Soldán).
Since the one in Miraflores was inconvenient, it was considered to build the current one.
General cemetery (...) Its inauguration (Gen. Cem.), with the burial of
the remains of Melgar, took place on September 17, 1833. Although it was
declared at the same time, closed the one in Miraflores and prohibited burials
In the religious houses, the authorities' tolerance continued to be abused.
that allowed to use that one (the one in Miraflores) and these (convents) for several
years more." (Arequipa, in the transition from colony to republic. Page 87.
Guillermo Zegarra Meneses.
Currently, 2010 the place that was previously occupied by the Miraflores cemetery (or
it would be better to call it a cemetery, since it was not built with niches or
cement), until the middle of the 19th century, is occupied by the La market
Chavela (next to Calvario street) and a nearby sports center, no
however, in another good part of the original location of this cemetery, there
they raise different particular properties on whose foundations still
the graves of the people of Arequipa from the past rest. Just beginning the
twenty-first century, some workers who were carrying out sewer works alongside the
Calvario Street, a quantity of buried bone remains were found and they claim that
the neighbors this has been happening from time to time, even some owners
of housing, when undertaking any work on their properties, have found
with such a genre of surprises. Some of these neighbors (Mr. Molina) reports that
when he was a child he witnessed how some men found, buried, a
coffin with religious garments inside, he also heard it said that it had been
a chalice found next to the remains. The truth is that the inhabitants and
neighbors, since ancient times, and when the cemetery was finally closed,
they tried to recover their dead and sometimes those remains were taken to
to bury in higher areas, reaching what is now the church of Chapi chico.
Others, on the contrary, with somewhat more economic possibilities and influences,
They managed to take their dead a little further down, next to the church of San
Antonio, what was not massive. When bone remains have been found (without
identity) sometimes in medium number, said bones have been gathered in a
only a single group and they have been given new and Christian burial.
But while the idea that many neighbors in Miraflores live and carry out their
daily activities just a couple of meters away from the ancient inhabitants of the
cemetery, buried under their houses, the truth is that this should not
to miss, for it was almost two centuries ago, it was not entirely feasible to transport,
whether by the City Council or by the relatives of the exhumed people, to everything
a cemetery, a task that would have generated too much work and the
consequent detriment to the municipal coffers and to the pockets of the
relatives. It was much easier to forget a little about the great-great-grandparents and go
yielding land for the benefit of more profitable constructions or even, as
a neighbor claimed to the author of this article, to achieve fraudulently
to acquire the benefit and a deed of lots and land, which ultimately was achieved.
to make the cemetery disappear (visually) along with all its dead.