La Catedral served as Pablo Escobar’s own luxurious prison overlooking Medellín.
When Pablo Escobar assassinated Luis Carlos Galán, a presidential candidate who moved against the drug cartels, he was removed as a member of the Colombian House of Representatives.
Escobar had previously sought membership of Colombia’s House of Representatives in order to avoid being extradited to the United States on drug trafficking charges.
Once again faced with the prospect of being extradited, Escobar influenced members of the Constituent Assembly to prohibit the extradition of Colombian citizens, and then promptly turned himself into the authorities.
Escobar would serve a maximum of five years in La Catedral which was built to his own specifications overlooking Medellín and staffed with his own team of bodyguards.
La Catedral was often referred to as Hotel Escobar due to its amenities which included a soccer field and a nightclub. Escobar also had a telescope installed that allowed him to look down into his daughter’s bedroom while talking with her on the phone.
But, when the government found out that Escobar was continuing his criminal activities, it attempted to move him to another jail. However, Escobar literally walked out of La Catedral with his own bodyguards while several hundred members of Colombia’s armed forces turned a blind eye.
There is speculation as to whether this was a deliberate move by the government which would later launch a manhunt to assassinate him or whether it was simply another example of Escobar’s immense influence over the authorities.
Today, La Catedral remains derelict with few reminders of its extraordinary history.
