3 Amazing legends of Jaén you can read only here
💬I got invited to a guided tour, hosted by the president of the association IUVENTA-Rafa Cámara. On this tour, I learned some of the many legends the city hides. If you like mysteries and also want to know a bit more about the curiosities that some of Jaén's buildings hold, keep reading!
Plaza Santa María1.📜The legend of Santo Rostro-a legend of a bishop, three devils, and Santo Rostro (The Holy face) of Jaén…
The legend says that, while the bishop Don Nicolás de Biedma was having dinner in Jaén, he heard some noises and discovered that they were coming from the little devils that were locked up. They were laughing and making fun of the Pope's fate, as he was a great sinner and in hell they were anxiously awaiting his death to celebrate that he was joining them.
The bishop was stunned and feared for the terrible fate that awaited the Pope if he did nothing to atone for his sins. He decided that he must help him and try to get a warning to him, but Rome was too far away to get his warning to him in time.
So Don Nicolás came up with the ingenious idea of asking for help from the devils themselves.
So he freed the creatures and asked them to fly him to Rome. The third devil told him that he would be able to carry him, BUT in return, the bishop, whose gluttony was known to all, would give him the leftovers of his dinner for the rest of his life.
Don Nicolás agreed and so it was that the little devil took him to the Pope.
The Pope listened to the bishop's story, and in repentance, he reflected on all his sins and asked God's forgiveness for them. In this way, the Pope was able to save his soul. In gratitude for this, the Pope gave Don Nicolás the relic of the Holy Face.
From then on, the bishop never had for dinner anything but a bowl of walnuts, so that the devil's share was only the shells.
Additional info:
📢 Аudio excerpt from Rafa's narration in Spanish. This is how Andalusian sounds: Rafa’s narration
To date, Santo Rostro is exhibited in the Cathedral of Jaén.
2.📜The legend of the house of de los Salazares:
Doña Ana was widowed by a Jaén banker in the mid-19th century. Her house, which was supposedly this (check under the text). One of her sons denounced her when her husband died, accusing her of having hidden part of the inheritance. The judge ordered a search of the house, but nothing was found.
However, Doña Ana spent that night in the company of a servant looking for a suitable place to hide the money. As she passed by her husband's portrait, the servant told her that he would criticize her actions. Doña Ana, annoyed, fired the servant and a few days later, suddenly, she died.
The house was sold. Of the money, which is said to have amounted to eighty thousand Duros, nothing certain has ever been heard of again. Some buyer of the house has pierced its walls in search of it and it is said that the poorest family, who lived there, prospered and ended up moving in.
3.📜The legend of the Christ of the three eggs
Catholic devotion in Jaén has always manifested itself in numerous spaces, places, and moments, such as churches, convents, public demonstrations, but also with hornacinas. If you have read the previous articles you probably noticed that the people of Jaén are quite devoted to God. Hornacinas are curious remains of a past that in many cases contain historical curiosities and no less romantic legends. This niche is a devotion to the Christ of the three eggs, also known as “Christ of the three powers”.
Popular legend states that on a certain occasion an old monk asked for shelter in the house next to the niche, known by the people as the 'Casa del Señor'. There he was offered three eggs for dinner, which was the only thing the poor owners of the house had at their disposal.
And at dawn, they were amazed by discovering that the monk had disappeared, that the three eggs were intact and that there was a crucifix on the wall of the house.
