Calls to Mass: Bells That Narrate El Cabrero

El Cabrero is not seen, it is heard: an introduction to the neighborhood's soundscape

Before the sun cracks the coral stone and the first raspado vendors bring out their carts, there is a sound that rules in El Cabrero: the bells. It is not a simple background jingle. It is a language. A code of hours, celebrations, mourning, and notices that the inhabitants of this neighborhood, the oldest in Cartagena outside the walls, have been reading with their ears for over four centuries.

If you walk along the boardwalk of El Cabrero at 6:00 in the morning, you will hear the first call. It is not an alarm clock: it is the main bell of the Parroquia de Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria, the church that watches over the Plaza de El Cabrero. Locals don't need to look at the clock. They know that when that bronze sounds, the corner baker is already pulling out the second batch and that the bus to the Centro has just passed along avenida Santander.

This article is not a guide to restaurants or hotels. It is an invitation to walk with your eyes closed. Because in El Cabrero, identity is not only in its colonial facades or in the Caribbean Sea that crashes against its walls: it is in the air, vibrating in every clapper. Here we tell you how to read that soundscape, who guards it, and why the bells of this neighborhood are intangible heritage that you, sensory traveler, cannot miss.

And a fact almost no one knows: in August 2026, the parish completed the restoration of its original bell tower, which had been silent since the pandemic. Today it sounds again with the same cadence of 1923, when the heaviest bell was cast. If you come this season, you will hear something that had not been heard in Cartagena for almost six years.

History of the bells: bronze, fire, and proper names

The Parroquia de Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria is not just any church. It is the first one built outside the walled center, back in 1603, to serve the fishermen and port workers who lived in what was then a suburb. But the temple we see today, with its white facade and three-tiered tower, dates from 1858. And the bells that crown it have their own story, almost like a novel.

The 1923 foundry: the year that changed the neighborhood's sound

The current bells are not the originals. The first ones cracked or were melted down to make cannons during the wars of independence, a common practice in Cartagena. The ones that hang in the tower today were commissioned in 1923 from the Petit & Gebr. Edelbrock foundry, a German house based in Gescher, Westphalia, famous throughout Latin America for its bronze with a high tin content, which gives them that clear, deep sound, without annoying metallic rebounds.

The main bell is called "La Candelaria", weighs 1,200 kilos, and measures almost a meter in diameter. It was donated by a family of Sephardic Jewish merchants from the neighborhood, the Del Valle family, as thanks for having found refuge in Cartagena during World War I. The curious detail: on its side, next to the image of the Virgin, a Star of David is engraved. No one knows exactly why, but the bell ringers affectionately call it "the converso bell."

The second, smaller one, is called "San Isidro" (480 kilos) and is used for daily rings and funerals. The third, "La Niña" (150 kilos), is the most active: it sounds for baptisms, weddings, and neighborhood notices. Together, the three achieve an F major chord that, according to local musicians, is identical to the bells of the Cathedral of Seville, because the German founder copied the mold from some Andalusian bells he had restored a year earlier.

The mystery of the silenced bell

There is a fourth bell, but it does not hang. It is in the atrium, on one side of the main entrance, split in two. It is the original from 1743, which cracked during Morillo's siege in 1815, when the Spanish used it to make a cannon that never worked. The remains are preserved as a monument, and the neighborhood's elders say that on full moon nights, if you put your ear against the metal, you can still hear a deep hum. It is a legend, of course, but in El Cabrero no one dares to debunk it.

The calendar of rings: how to read the sound code

The bells of El Cabrero do not ring randomly. They have a system of rings that has been passed down from bell ringer to bell ringer, almost always by oral tradition. Here we explain the basic code so that you, when you hear them, know exactly what is happening in the neighborhood without having to ask.

Daily rings: the neighborhood's routine

• 6:00 am - El Alba: A single strike of La Niña, repeated three times at ten-second intervals. It is the call to the first mass and, incidentally, the notice that the Bazurto market is already receiving goods.
• 12:00 pm - El Ángelus: Three slow strikes of San Isidro. Traditionally it marked lunchtime, when the workers from the Mamonal refinery (who live in the neighborhood) came out to eat. Today, many locals still cross themselves when they hear it.
• 6:00 pm - El Ocaso: The longest ring: five minutes of La Candelaria at fifteen-second intervals. It is the notice that the church is about to close and that children must go inside. The neighborhood's grandparents say that "when El Ocaso sounds, the spirits of the sea wake up."

Special rings: celebrations, mourning, and notices

On February 2, the day of the Virgen de la Candelaria, all three bells ring at once for almost an hour, in a continuous peal that can be heard as far as the Manga neighborhood. It is the happiest ring of the year. Next in importance are Maundy Thursday (a funeral ring with La Niña, without the clapper, striking only the rim) and November 11, when Cartagena's independence is celebrated and the bells peal along with the sirens of the port's ships.

There is a ring that almost no one outside the neighborhood knows: the "Toque de Tormenta" (Storm Ring). When the sky turns black and the north wind starts blowing hard, the bell ringer strikes La Candelaria with dry, rapid blows, without rhythm. It is a tradition that dates back to when fishermen had no radio and needed to know they should pull in their nets before the sea grew furious. Even today, veteran fishermen of El Cabrero hear it and know they must seek shelter.

Voices of bell ringers: the guardians of the craft

Being a bell ringer in El Cabrero is not a job. It is an inherited vocation, a family pride. Here we introduce you to some of the characters who have kept this craft alive.

Don Evaristo Padilla: 52 years touching the sky

Don Evaristo is 78 years old and started climbing the bell tower when he was 12, accompanying his grandfather, who was a sexton. For 52 years he was the parish's official bell ringer, until in 2022 a knee problem forced him to come down. But he hasn't left: he sits every morning in the Plaza de El Cabrero, with his old radio, and corrects the new bell ringer if he gets the rhythm wrong.

"The secret is not strength, it's hearing," says Don Evaristo, humming the pattern of the main bell. "Each bell has its personality. La Candelaria is fierce, you have to treat her with respect. San Isidro is more docile. And La Niña is playful, she lets herself be rung easily. You don't ring the bells: you converse with them."

Don Evaristo recounts that in 1973, during the funeral of the poet Luis Carlos López, he played the funeral ring for two straight hours, until his hands blistered. "It was the day I felt most proud. That man wrote verses to Cartagena, and I answered him with bronze."

The new generation: Yuliana Martínez

Since 2023, the official bell ringer is Yuliana Martínez, 29, the first woman to hold the position in the parish's history. Yuliana is a trained musician, a graduate of the Universidad de Bellas Artes, and came to the craft almost by accident: she was doing research on Cartagena's urban sound for her thesis and fell in love with the bell tower.

"At first the old men in the neighborhood looked at me strangely," laughs Yuliana. "But I told them: bells have no gender. They have bronze and they have history. And I learned all the rings by heart, even the ones no longer used."

Yuliana has modernized the craft without betraying tradition: she recorded all the rings in high-quality audio and uploaded them to a parish page. She has also restored the Toque de Tormenta, which had been out of use since the 90s, and taught it to the children of the neighborhood school so it won't be lost.

The generational handover: the children of the bell ringers' school

Since 2024, the parish has had a bell ringers' school for children between 8 and 14 years old. They meet on Saturdays at 10 in the morning and learn not only the rings, but also the neighborhood's history. The program is led by the Fundación Cultural El Cabrero, and already has 23 active students. The youngest, Samuel, 9, already plays the Alba ring without making a mistake.

"This is not so they become professional bell ringers," clarifies Yuliana. "It's so they understand that sound is also heritage. When you learn to listen to your neighborhood, you respect it more."

A playlist for walking with your ears: sounds to listen to while you read

The El Cabrero experience is not complete with sight alone. Here is a selection of sounds you can search for on your favorite audio platform (or record yourself if you visit the b