Cantuña

In the folklore of Ecuador there are all kinds of legends and stories but one of the most
recognizable is the one commonly called The legend of Cantuña.

This story began many years ago, in colonial Quito. Where an indigenous man named Cantuña
lived, about whom many things were said, such as that he was the descendant of an Inca
warrior or that as a child, he participated in the mission to hide Atahualpa's treasure, which is
believed to be the source of his wealth. But in any case, what is surely to say is that he had a
hump caused by getting trapped under the debris during the fire of Quito, of which he was
saved by a Spanish officer. Becoming a devotee of San Francisco as a strange form of gratitude
for this act, taking charge of financing or carrying out different works for the church. Until he
was entrusted with the construction of the atrium of the Church of San Francisco, however,
even with the supposed money from the treasury of the ancient Inca emperor, the deadline to
complete the work was coming upon him, being impossible to meet. But something happened,
something that turned Cantuña into a legend, because one night before the deadline expired,
the devil himself would appear offering him a deal. He would finish the construction of the
church in a single night but in exchange he would give him his soul, Cantuña accepted with the
condition that if even the smallest stone were missing, the deal would be cancelled, and so
they agreed. All that night hundreds of imps work non-stop to finish the work.

"—Victory" said the devil.

"Victory!" exclaimed Cantuña.

When he found that a stone was missing from the atrium, causing the devil to retract,
disappearing in an instant. Making Cantuña finally fulfill his dream of leaving a church to his
people, to the indigenous people. Being possible to contemplate the materialization of this
dream for everyone who passes by the Church of San Francisco in the historic center of Quito
until today.