It was the beginning of the 1860s and among the noble families that inhabited Lima, the one of the Marquis of Sarria y Molina, who had become a widow, concentrating all his affection ever since on his only daughter, Clara, 12 years old. Over time, the girl grew up under the care of her nanny Evarista, a mulatto who had a son named Francisco, three years older than the girl.
Francisco, who was the conceited of the Marquis, fell in love with Clara, to the point that the beautiful young woman became pregnant, which caused a real convulsion in the society of the time. The Marquis, dazed and offended by such outrage, ordered that Francisco be locked up in the Covento of La Recoleta and he would be made a friar. As for the girl, her father decided that a long journey was the most convenient. Three days later, Panchito could be seen wearing the banquet and habit of a Dominican monk, helping at Father Mendoza's mass.
The marquis, meanwhile, was making his preparations to leave for Spain in the "Covadonga" frigate that was due to leave in a month. But no one imagined the deep love in which the two young people had maintained and keeping it hidden, so this separation caused deep sorrow in both of them.
Until October 17 arrived, when the marquis and his daughter were heading to Callao and embarking on the frigate, which was due to set sail at two in the afternoon. Clara was serene, but her breathing, broken by frequent sighs, which she tried in vain to drown, revealed the deep suffering that was devouring that soul torn by pain.
The frigate continued the course parallel to the Island of San Lorenzo and it was five thirty when they passed to the alura of Chorrillos, which could be vaguely seen, wrapped in the afternoon mist. And when the boat was in front of the Morro Solar, Clara took a spyglass with the intention of looking for her beloved who, according to the nurse Evarista, her son Francisco would be firing her at said hill.
Suddenly, Clara could see her beloved who, standing on the highest rock, held over his head with both hands, the cloak that he had taken off and was waving in the air. A minute later, the friar plunged from the very high peak to the bottom of the abyss, and nothing remained of him except the ragged tatters of his garments, which, caught on the row crest of a projecting rock, floated in the wind like a flag. funeral.
While that tragic denouement was taking place on land, a scene no less terrible passed on board. Clara had thrown herself into the waters at the tragic scene she had just witnessed. This story with the smell of legend, was disclosed in the Lima of yesteryear and with the passage of time, and in memory of this misunderstood love, a restaurant was built near Morro de Chorrillos, near La Herradura beach, called "El Salto del Fraile", specialized in Peruvian gastronomy.
The anecdotal thing about this place is that, every Sunday, in the afternoons, the friar's bravery into the depths of the sea is staged. A courtier dressed in a Franciscan tunic, throws himself into the sea from a rock in front of the restaurant.
Years ago, during my stay in Lima, I was one of the spectators of the ceremony, which is held daily from the terrace of the Restaurant «El Salto del Fraile». Despite knowing the legend, one thinks that those conflicted loves were real. Or yes they were and hence the legend was born. That the monk who jumps, relives the courage of the mulatto when he realizes that his aristocrat and pregnant beloved are taken far away. Meanwhile, she, who contemplates with a spyglass from the boat, the suicide of the loved one, decides to take the leap and accompany him in eternity and condemn it. I only know that mentally I told myself what Peruvians would say, in Quechua, as a farewell: Tupanamanchis Kaman.
5 days ago I had the opportunity to visit the place. A very moving story, but more impressive is seeing the recreation of the Salto del Fraile that is thrown from the great cliff. Definitely, one is speechless.