Legends

A Tapestry of Legends Weave Quito’s History

One of Quito's greatest charms lies in the tapestry of legends of its beautiful colonial centre, woven over the centuries and today just as vibrant and cherished in the memory of its modern citizens. Folk tales twine the city's architecture, history and living culture, weave down narrow cobble-stone streets, coil around the doorways of churches and convents, thread between darkened corridors and cloistered patios.

Every street and every building harbours innumerable legends. Like heirlooms, Quito's legends have been handed down from one generation to the next, lovingly passed from grandmother to granddaughter, grandfather to grandson and so on. The Quiteños' faith keeps this inheritance alive, and fires the surrealist feeling of magical possibility; anything is possible here up in the high Andes in the shadow of the Guagua Pichincha volcano.

Each of the city's legends holds seeds of truth. They are not mere fables. Every story recounted has burgeoned from some historical fact, while its branches, leaves and flowers are the blossom of its citizens' imagination. These are the stories born from evenings spent gathered round open fires, tales of daily goings-on swapped and exchanged, borrowed and stolen, filtered word by word onto the streets, out into the city, where they amplify, distort, enlarge and eventually metamorphose into truth. The legends of Quito are the tales of the city, as valid as the dates, facts, figures and names of the history books.

Through these tales one grasps the Quiteños' interpretation of their history and their identity. Legends have an essential place in the history of the city: they are the tradition, the oneness and the magic. Listening to Quito's legends is to pass through the looking-glass of visitor-host.

Here are two legends regarding Quito which give you an idea of the city's colour and heritage.