Updated November 19, 2025
Legends are part of the cultural heritage that gives Chile its identity. They reflect history, beliefs and the connection between communities and their environment. From the desert north to the forests of the south, each area of the country holds stories that have transcended generations. To travel through Chile through its myths and legends is to discover its cultural and geographic diversity from a new perspective.
Popular myths and legends of Chile from north to south
Sometimes it happened, sometimes it was a dream or a figment of the imagination. They are the stories we once heard, never to forget.
In the Norte Grande, the Añañuca, a Chilean legend about the desert flower, is very popular, as is the festival of La Tirana, which has its origins in a tale of love and conversion in the middle of the Atacama desert. In the Norte Chico they still tell stories of pirates and hidden treasures that remind us of the mythical Sir Francis Drake.
In the central zone, around Santiago, the Quintrala, a cruel and haunted woman, is very popular, as is the legend of the Cueva del Chivato, a mysterious hiding place associated with treasures and apparitions in the Cajón del Maipo area.
In the central south, among many other peasant legends, the Chilean legend of La Laguna del Inca, an enchanted place in the mountain range, is popular, which is the result of a love story.
In the south, in the Araucanía, there is a great variety of Chilean Mapuche myths , among them that of the Old Woman Owner of the Mountain, which reflects respect for the elderly. In the national imaginary, the mythology of Chiloé stands out, with its stories about the legend of the Pincoya, a southern mermaid, and the Caleuche, a ghost ship. To these are added stories like the Peuchen, a winged creature that steals the energy of living beings, and the Muelle de las Almas, where the souls wait to be taken to the afterlife by the raft Tempilcahue.
In insular Chile, Easter Island has its own mythology according to a worldview different from that of the inhabitants of the mainland. Among its most popular Chilean legends is that of Make-Make, about the creation of the world and the birdman.
North Zone Legends
La Añañuca
Añañuca was a young girl who lived in Monte Patria, a small town near the Limarí River. At that time it was called Monte Rey because it was still under Spanish rule. The beautiful Añañuca attracted the admiration of the young men of the town. None had been able to conquer her. One day a handsome and enigmatic miner arrived looking for a much coveted vein of gold.
When he saw Añañuca he fell in love with her and stayed to live in Monte Rey. And it was reciprocated. One night the miner had a disturbing dream. A mountain goblin appeared to him and revealed to him the precise location of the vein of the mine he was obsessed with. Without hesitation he set off in search of it, leaving Añañuca with the promise that he would return.
Añañuca waited day after day, but her lover did not return. The mirage had swallowed him. Sadness settled in Añañuca and she died of love, disconsolate. The people of Monte Rey mourned and buried her one rainy day. The next day, the sun warmed the valley and it was filled with beautiful red flowers, which in honor of the young woman were called Añañuca. The flower grows to this day between Copiapó and the valley of Quilimarí and, after the sky cries, the pampa becomes the wonderful flowery desert.
Pirate treasures
The corsair Sir Francis Drake discovered Guayacán Bay in 1578. Because of its shape it is known as the bay of the Horseshoe, a place that was a refuge for pirates, buccaneers and corsairs. All of them specialists in assaulting Spanish galleons that transported treasures, product of other plundering, from America to Europe. The Chilean myth and legend tells that incredible jewels were buried in the bay of Guayacán and that many died looking for them.
The same greedy excavations were the tomb of treasure hunters. According to Chilean legend, a Drake treasure would still remain in a cave in Laguna Verde, on the coast of what is now the Valparaiso Region. There would be a treasure that has never been found. The fishermen, fearful and daring at the same time, say that it is not possible to enter this cave, which could be accessed from the city.
One of the entrances is located on Esmeralda Street in Valparaíso. It is said that it is guarded by a monstrous snitch of great strength, who comes out at night to trap treasure hunters. He takes them to the cave and drives them crazy. This snitch would have enchanted a girl and whoever dares to free her from the enchantment is exposed to terrible sufferings.
La Tirana
Legend has it that many centuries ago, in the middle of the Atacama Desert, there lived a young indigenous princess named Ñusta Huillac, daughter of the last priest of the Sun God of the Inca Empire. After the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors, her people were defeated, and she fled with a group of her followers to the forests of the Tamarugal. There she became a brave warrior, feared by the invaders and known as "La Tirana" for her indomitable character and the severity with which she punished those who approached her territory.
One day, a Spanish miner named Vasco de Almeyda was captured by her people. She ordered his execution, but when she looked into his eyes she felt something she had never experienced before. As the days passed, they secretly fell in love. He told her of his faith and of a different God than the one she knew. Moved, the princess agreed to be baptized, and the two decided to marry in the middle of the desert, sealing their love with a cross made of branches.
But before the ceremony was over, the Ñusta's faithful, discovering her union with a foreigner, attacked them. Vasco fell mortally wounded, and the princess, in despair, died beside him.
Years later, in the same place where they fell, a small sanctuary was built, and eventually the town of La Tirana was born. Today, every July 16, thousands of pilgrims come to the Sanctuary of Carmen de La Tirana to pay homage to the "Chinita del Carmen" with dances, music and colorful masks. They say that each dance echoes the impossible love between the princess and the miner, who turned the desert into a feast of faith and devotion.
Central Zone / South Central
The lion's stone
In times when the indigenous people inhabited the area of San Felipe, pumas were abundant in the surroundings. And that is where the lion's stone is located, more precisely on a hill called Yevide. For as long as anyone can remember, it is known that these felines have been persecuted and are at risk of extermination. Chilean legend has it that in Yevide lived a beautiful lioness with her two cubs. One day the female had to leave her cubs to go out to look for food, and left the cubs sleeping next to a huge rock. When the lioness returned from the hunt, the cubs were gone.
In their absence, some muleteers had taken them away. The mother, in desperation, searched incessantly for them without results. When night came, she lay down disconsolate next to the stone and made her grunts of lamentation heard. It is said that the animal's roars, which were nothing more than the cries of a wounded beast, could be heard from everywhere. From the following dawn, not a single puma was ever seen again. They all left Yevide Hill. And on winter nights, people often hear the wailing of the lioness. It is her soul, they say, that still claims her children that she left in the stone.
La Quintrala
Her hair was as red as chitral, which is why she was called Quintrala. Her name, Doña Catalina de los Ríos y Lisperguer. Beautiful and capricious, she was one of the most feared criminals of the 17th century. In her hacienda of La Ligua and its surroundings, she left a Chilean legend of horror, attributing to her pacts with the devil. Unbridled, she was indomitable for her husband -who lived only a short time- who became an accomplice of her perversity.
In the area, the mistreatment she inflicted on the Indians of the hacienda, who had to flee to the mountains, is told of. La Quintrala presided over the punishments without being moved by the pain of others. Accused of her crimes, she was arrested and tried by the commissioner of the Audiencia, who found her guilty of parricide and the collective murder of her servants. She was taken to Santiago where her cunning and money were influential in delaying the process.
Among the diabolical pacts attributed to her is the one she made to win the love of the friar who would marry her. The friar resisted the harassment and self-flagellated, until he fled to Peru to avoid the seductive witch. He only returned when he learned of the arrest and her illnesses. He never confessed his mortal sins.
La Cueva del Chivato
In the heart of Valparaíso, where the hills fall almost suddenly to the ocean, there was a corner feared by the old inhabitants of the city. It was a narrow piece of land, at the foot of Concepción Hill, where today the El Mercurio newspaper building stands. There, between the furious breakers and the shadows of the Ross Passage, the mysterious Cueva del Chivato opened up, a dark hole whose origin no one could be sure of.
Some said it had been excavated by miners in colonial times; others said it was a natural formation. But most believed it was the work of the devil himself.
In the winter months, the sea pounded furiously on the rocks, making the ground creak and filling the air with foam and wailing. Many claimed to have seen a huge black goat at night, with eyes as red as coals, that would emerge from the cave to catch unsuspecting people wandering around the harbor. Those who tried to flee fell into the sea, where the waves tore them apart without leaving a trace of blood, only bleached bones between the cliffs.
Shipwrecks and accidents were so frequent in the area that sailors began to call the place "Cape Horn", because its waters were as treacherous as those of the extreme south. The story goes that on a stormy night, a sailor who survived a shipwreck saw a goat-like shadow dragging the women of his crew to the bottom of the cave. When he awoke, he was the only one left alive.
Over the years, the advance of the port and the arrival of dynamite put an end to the cave. The cliff was demolished, the land was transformed into Esmeralda Street and terror became history. But the old porteños assure that, when the north wind blows hard, a hoarse roar that seems to come from the sea can still be heard from the depths of the hill. They say it is the Chivato, remembering that in Valparaíso even the devil has his legend.
Inca Lagoon
When the Incas dominated pre-Columbian Chile up to the Maule Mountains, they performed their rituals and religious ceremonies in the Andes Mountains. It was the ideal place for those who considered themselves children of the sun. According to Chilean legend , the Inca Illi Yupanqui fell in love with the beautiful princess Korallé. They decided to marry on a summit located on the shores of a lagoon. After the wedding ceremony, the princess had to descend the hillside, dressed in her gown and colorful jewelry. The path was narrow, covered in pebbles that caused the princess to slip, falling into the void.
Warned by the screams, the Inca started to run, but by the time he reached his side, it was too late. His beloved princess lay dead. Grief-stricken, he decided that the body of the princess should be deposited in the depths of the lagoon. When she was submerged, the water magically turned emerald. The same color of the princess' eyes. Since then it is said that the Laguna del Inca -located in Portillo-is enchanted and, sometimes, on nights of full moon, the soul of Illi Yupanqui wanders on the still surface of the lagoon. And the laments of the Inca can be heard remembering his beloved.
South Zone
The old woman who owns the mountain
In the wooded mountains of the Araucanía, a man was lost looking for his animals. He did not find them. Night fell and he could not find his way home, so he decided to look for a place in the forest to sleep. As he settled down to rest, he suddenly saw a glow in the middle of the forest. It was a campfire and an old woman was dancing around the fire. He went towards her. It was Kvpvka, the owner of the mountain, who had a house made of materials gathered in the forests of the mountain. She owned everything, potatoes, peas, corn, etc.
The man greeted the old woman with great respect, then they became friends and got married. Knowing that the man was poor, widowed and had four children, the old woman said, "If you have children, bring them, there is everything here". So the man brought his children, they ate and stayed in the Kvpvka's house. One night, one of the children laughed at the old woman's feet: "Look, the old woman has only two toes.
The old woman flew into a rage, kicked her house and so everything disappeared, the fire, the wealth and the Kvpvka. The desperate man returned his children to the old house, advised them against mockery and returned to the mountain to continue living with the Kvpvka.
La Pincoya
One of the most popular Chilean myths among the fishermen of Chiloé is that of a mermaid called the Pincoya. Sometimes, they say, she is accompanied by her husband, the Pincoy. She rarely leaves the sea to go into rivers and lakes. This sea nymph fertilizes the fish and shellfish under the waters, so that the abundance or scarcity of food for fishermen depends on her.
When the Pincoya appears on the beach dancing, with its arms open and looking towards the sea, the fishermen are happy because this dance is an announcement of abundant fish. If it dances facing the coast, it is a bad omen because it will drive away the fish. But the bad omen can be good for others, because the Pincoya brings abundance to the most needy.
Joy, even if it is from poverty, attracts La Pincoya, that is why the Chilotes sing, dance and make curantos for her to see and favor them. Part of the Chilean myth tells that the Pincoya was born in the beautiful Huelde lagoon, near Cucao, that she is a very beautiful woman, with a slightly tanned white complexion, golden hair and that, from the waist down, she has the shape of a fish. On certain nights she whistles or intones bewitching love songs, which no one can resist.
El Caleuche
A ghost ship sails the seas of Chiloé. It is the Caleuche, and its crew is composed of witches. On dark nights it illuminates its reddish sails and when it wants to hide it causes a dense fog. It never roams the archipelago in daylight, because it becomes invisible or turns into a rock. And its crew members are transformed into sea lions or gannets. Whoever looks at the Caleuche can be left, by witchcraft, with a crooked mouth or with his head turned backwards.
The ship can be boarded, however, by shipwrecked and drowned people, who can see the cities at the bottom of the sea and their treasures, but not divulge what they have seen. This is the case of the barge that left Chonchi, led by the son of a respectable inhabitant of the place. The boat never came back.
When the father found out, he just smiled in a strange way that held a revelation: the son was safe aboard the Caleuche. From that day on, the father began to get rich in his business, and at night he heard the dragging of chains near his house: it was the Caleuche that was stealthily unloading large quantities of merchandise, which revealed the hidden relations that the merchant had with the ghost ship.
The creation of the world
It is said in Rapa Nui, Easter Island, that when there was nothing on earth, everything was about to be done. Then, there was a dispute between the spirits. A powerful spirit that lived in the air prevailed over the weaker ones who rebelled. The powerful one turned them into mountains and volcanoes. The repentant ones he turned into stars. To inhabit the earth, the mighty one transformed into a man a spirit who was his son; he threw him to the earth and, falling, he was stunned.
The young man's mother felt sad and wanted to observe him; so, to look at him, she opened a small window in the sky. Through it, sometimes, his pale face peeps out. The mighty one took a star and turned it into a woman to accompany his son.
To reach the young man the woman had to walk barefoot, but she was not hurt because the mighty one ordered herbs and flowers to grow in her path. She played with the flowers and when she touched them they turned into birds and butterflies. And the grass her foot had touched became a gigantic jungle. The couple met and found that the world was beautiful. In the daytime, the mighty one looked at them through a little round window, and it was the sun. At night, it was the mother who peered through the window, and it was the moon.
The Peuchén
Among the humid forests and misty lakes of southern Chile, where the wind seems to talk to the mountains, hides one of the most feared beings in the popular imagination: the Peuchén. Its name is pronounced in a low voice, because just mentioning it can attract its presence.
Legend has it that the Peuchén was once a powerful machi who, for abusing his ancestral wisdom, was punished by the spirits. Condemned to live between two worlds, he became a winged creature, half snake and half bat, who inhabits the thickest forests and swamps. By day he sleeps hidden in the trees, but when night falls, he wakes up hungry.
They say that its flight makes no noise, only an icy air that precedes misfortune. With its black wings it glides over the roofs and sneaks through the cracks of the houses, sucking the blood and vital energy of the animals... and sometimes, of the people. Those who have survived its attack say that the Peuchén leaves a mark on the neck, as if the soul had escaped through it.
To protect themselves, the ancient Mapuche would light bonfires with canelo branches or pray to the ngen of the forest to scare it away. Some said that it was enough to show him a mirror, because when he saw himself reflected in his cursed form, he would flee in terror among the hills.
To this day, on cold southern nights, the locals claim to hear a deep fluttering that pierces the trees. No one sees it, but everyone knows what it means: the Peuchén is on the loose, looking for those who dared to disbelieve its legend.
Insular Chile
The Creation of the World
It is said in Rapa Nui, Easter Island, that when there was nothing on earth, everything was about to be done. Then, there was a dispute between the spirits. A powerful spirit that lived in the air prevailed over the weaker ones who rebelled. The powerful one turned them into mountains and volcanoes. The repentant ones he turned into stars. To inhabit the earth, the mighty one transformed into a man a spirit who was his son; he threw him to the earth and, falling, he was stunned.
The young man's mother felt sad and wanted to observe him; so, to look at him, she opened a small window in the sky. Through it, sometimes, his pale face peeps out. The mighty one took a star and turned it into a woman to accompany his son.
To reach the young man the woman had to walk barefoot, but she was not hurt because the mighty one ordered herbs and flowers to grow in her path. She played with the flowers and when she touched them they turned into birds and butterflies. And the grass her foot had touched became a gigantic jungle.
The couple met and found that the world was beautiful. In the daytime, the mighty one looked at them through a little round window, and it was the sun. At night, it was the mother who peered through the window, and it was the moon.
The legend of Make-Make
The Chilean legend tells that, after having created the world, the Make-Make felt that something was missing. Then he picked up a gourd containing water and, to his amazement, realized that when he looked into the water he saw his own face reflected. Make-Make greeted his own image and noticed that it contained a beak, wings and feathers. As he looked at his reflection he saw a bird perched on his shoulder. Finding great similarity between his image and that of the bird, he joined his reflection and that of the bird to thus create his firstborn. However, Make-Make wanted to create a being that had his image, that spoke and thought like him.
So, first he fertilized the waters of the sea and then the fish appeared. But the result was not what he expected. Then, he fertilized a stone in which there was colored earth, and from it came man. Make-Make was happy to have created man, the creature he desired; however, seeing the lonely man, he also created the woman. Make Make did not forget his bird image and led the birds to the motu or islets in front of Rano Kau to celebrate the cult of Tangata Manu, the bird-man.