Cuilápam Monastery

Oaxaca · Mexico · Monastery

The basilica was never finished — whatever rose by day, the Devil is said to have torn down by night.

The Dominicans' vast monastery at Cuilápam was begun in the 1530s but never completed: its great basilica still stands open to the sky. Legend tells of a broken pact with the Devil, who took his revenge by demolishing each night what the masons had raised during the day. It was here, too, that independence hero and former president Vicente Guerrero was held prisoner before being executed by firing squad on 14 February 1831, and his fate hangs heavily over the empty halls. Visitors report cold draughts, footsteps in the cloisters and the feeling of never quite being alone among the ruins.

FAQ

Where is Cuilápam Monastery located?

Cuilápam Monastery is in Oaxaca, Mexico.

More haunted places in Oaxaca

• Café de Tacuba Mexico City · Restaurant
• Hacienda Yaxcopoil Yucatán · Manor
• The House of Tiles Mexico City · Historic building
• The Street of the Burned Woman Mexico City · Road
• José Luis Cuevas Museum (Former Convent of Santa Inés) Mexico City · Museum
• Xoco Cemetery Mexico City · Cemetery
• San Fernando Cemetery Museum Mexico City · Cemetery
• Hostería de Santo Domingo Mexico City · Restaurant

Accounts are drawn from local folklore and visitor reports.

Image: DavidConFran · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons