Every Saturday Night, Actors Perform Ghost Stories by Candlelight in a 400-Year-Old Cuenca Convent
Chip Moreno
This Is Not a Museum Tour
Forget the daytime visit with informational plaques. On Saturday nights, the Museo de las Conceptas — a former convent where Conceptas nuns have lived for over 400 years — transforms into something completely different.
"Rutas de Fantasmas" (Ghost Routes) is a 90-minute theatrical walking tour through the darkened corridors, chapels, and gardens of one of Cuenca's oldest buildings. Live actors from the Colectivo Artístico Barojo perform dramatizations of the city's most chilling legends — by candlelight — as you walk through spaces that include:
- The funeral chapel (sala de velaciones)
- Recovery rooms for the sick and wounded
- The cemetery
- The kitchen and orchard
- The floripondio garden
It's atmospheric, theatrical, and genuinely unsettling in the best possible way.
The Legends
Each room features a different Cuenca legend brought to life by costumed actors:
- Espadachín Zabala — A swordsman murdered at the monastery church door by Governor Joseph Antonio Vallejo, and his forbidden love affair with Sister Jacinta
- Sor Jacinta — The restless spirit of the nun connected to Zabala
- Sor Dolores — A suffering nun whose story still haunts the halls
- María Angula — One of Ecuador's most famous folk legend characters
- El Padrino Despellejado — "The Flayed Godfather" (yes, it's as creepy as it sounds)
- La Comida del Diablo — "The Devil's Meal"
- La Caja Ronca — A phantom funeral procession with a faceless cortege that produces eerie sounds
Who's Behind It
The performances are by Colectivo Artístico Barojo, a Cuenca theater collective led by director Piotr Zalamea Zielinski that has been operating for over 20 years. They've won awards at international theater festivals in Quito and Cali, and they bring serious craft to what could easily be a cheesy tourist trap.
This isn't cheesy. The historical research behind each legend is thorough, the performances are committed, and the 400-year-old convent setting does most of the atmospheric heavy lifting. When an actor appears in a dimly lit colonial corridor telling you about a murdered swordsman, you don't need special effects.
Practical Details
| Detail | Info |
|---|---|
| When | Every Saturday at 7:00 PM |
| Where | Museo de las Conceptas — Hermano Miguel 6-33 y Juan Jaramillo, Historic Center |
| Duration | ~90 minutes |
| Cost | $10 general / $7 preferential (students, seniors) / $15 for two people |
| Reservations | Call 0999003134 |
| Language | Spanish (but the visual theater transcends language) |
About the Museum
For context: the Museo del Monasterio de las Conceptas was founded as a convent in 1599. The current monastery buildings date from 1682-1729. The museum opened in 1986 and houses 24 rooms with 64 religious paintings, approximately 250 sculptures, plus furniture, toys, and crafts from the colonial period.
During the day, it's a quiet, fascinating museum (regular admission $2.50). On Saturday nights, it becomes something else entirely.
Why You Should Go
Honestly? This is one of the most unique things you can do in Cuenca.
Most expats know the museums, the restaurants, the parks. But how many have walked through a 400-year-old convent by candlelight while actors perform local ghost stories around them?
It's also a fantastic thing to do with visiting friends or family. It's memorable, it's affordable, it's different from anything they'd experience at home, and it doesn't require fluent Spanish — the theatrical performances are visual enough that you'll follow along even if you miss some dialogue.
Pro tip: Book ahead by calling the reservation number. Groups can be limited in size, and Saturday nights do fill up.
Sources: El Mercurio, Expreso, Dirección Municipal de Cultura de Cuenca
