Cartagena, Colombia, Aug 11 (EFE).- The ashes of the late Colombian writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez will repose from Dec. 12 in this Caribbean city, the governor of Bolivar province announced Tuesday.

“With deep emotion we officially announce that the ashes of Nobel laureate Garcia Marquez will repose in Cartagena,” Gov. Juan Carlos Gossain said.

“The family of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, his wife Mercedes Barcha and their sons Rodrigo and Gonzalo took that decision,” the provincial government said.

Ashes of the author of “One Hundred Years of Solitude,” who died on April 17, 2014 in Mexico City, will be kept “in the central patio of La Merced Cloister, “a place dedicated to education, research and culture.”

Currently occupying that site is the University of Cartagena, founded in 1827 and known to be the oldest in the Colombian Caribbean.

The provincial government added that when the ashes of the Nobel Prize winner arrive, “the family will donate a bronze by his dear friend, British sculptor Kate Murray.”

Garcia Marquez, born in the Caribbean town of Aracataca in 1928, came to Cartagena at the age of 20 to work as a reporter at El Universal newspaper.

“Those first years in Cartagena were a transcendental moment in the life of the young writer and fledgling journalist,” the provincial government said. EFE