The town of Palenque de San Basilio was the first free town of America during the Spanish times and it still preserves the tradition of those africans that were exiled and forced to the slavery. Benkos Biohó, originary from Guinea, was a brave slave that melted cannons for the Spanish crown that could break those chains to escape from Cartagena to the Montes de Maria with some men and organize what would become the first free setlement.
The freedom first took away and then not accepted for more than 100 years by the Spanish authotirties today is present in the joy of their inhabitants. The streets transmit the simplicity, hospitality and memory of a town that doesn't forget its roots but that opens its doors to share them. The music, the traditional dances, the "palenquero" language, the funeral rites and even the hair dresses, that once served as encoded paths of freedom, are part of the Inmaterial Cultural Heritage of the Humanity declared by the Unesco.
A "palenque" is a setlement of "cimarrones" or africans that scaped from their owners, and thus is a synonymous of freedom and pride.
The freedom first took away and then not accepted for more than 100 years by the Spanish authotirties today is present in the joy of their inhabitants. The streets transmit the simplicity, hospitality and memory of a town that doesn't forget its roots but that opens its doors to share them. The music, the traditional dances, the "palenquero" language, the funeral rites and even the hair dresses, that once served as encoded paths of freedom, are part of the Inmaterial Cultural Heritage of the Humanity declared by the Unesco.
A "palenque" is a setlement of "cimarrones" or africans that scaped from their owners, and thus is a synonymous of freedom and pride.
"Who were the black men brought as slaves?". Books from the public library.
"Juan Palom / Was born 15 Jan (1964) / Died 15 Nov 2009 / The best".
The traditional hairdress served as encoded paths of freedom, where the women that were close to the Spanish crown enconded the paths to escape from Cartagena.
Benkos Biohó.
