EFE, EL COLOMBIANO ( Colombia)
MEDELLIN - The luxurious "prison" that infamous Colombian drug trafficker Pablo Escobar built for himself and lived in for a year starting in the summer of 1991 is now going to become a home for the poor elderly, EFE reports.
The palatial "prison," called La Catedral, boasted splendid rooms, a gym and even a natural waterfall and a soccer field. The place also had doors wide open to any family, friends or business partners Escobar wanted to visit. From inside its walls, he continued to run his drug business, including ordering assassinations. Escobar also held wild parties with alcohol, drugs and plenty of women.
After Escobar's escape in 1992, the building fell to ruins. People from the area took down the walls, searching for the treasure popularly believed to be hiding somewhere in the building -- but never found anything. Then, in 2007, a group of monks moved into the building, hoping to create a religious center, in a place that had been overflowing with sin, El Colombiano reports.
The monks have already built a chapel, a cafeteria and an 800-book library for poor children, as well as a small memorial to those who were killed by Escobar and his henchmen, El Colombiano reports. Now the monks are planning to open La Catedral to the elderly and disabled without financial resources, who will be able to live and get basic care completely free of charge, EFE reports.
