Mythology Monday #5 Madrid’s Haunted Royal Palace


Oh hey. I’m back making Mythology Monday’s again! I’ll be skipping the usual story today, but next week I will be posting the story again. I hope that you don’t mind, but I doubt many people actually read the stories anyway. If you actually enjoy the stories don’t worry I’ll be bringing them back for next week. I want to make them real stories, not the tiny blurbs they’ve been. That’s why this week I won’t be posting one this week. This time I’m translating a legend about Madrid.

Madrid is a city filled with mysteries, especially in the oldest part of the city, where there are stories of spells, ghosts, and apparitions. Any visitor MUST see the royal palace, where they could witness the changing of the guard, and obtain a guided tour, so that they can experience a thoroughly haunted location.

The area between the slope of San Vincente and San Francisco El Grande, have historically been identified as the habitat of witches, monsters, and ghosts, who allegedly began to form during the reign of Alfonso VI, and the construction and expansion of the area that is historic Alcazar in 1537. Many believed that the work done disturbed the rest of these entities and motivated them to disrupt the work of humans in the area, which caused the death of many of the workers.

Decades later in 1698, an excorism occurred in Alcazar, of the monarch Carlos II. Due to events which happened during his life he was known as “the Bewitched”. He was believed to have been spellbound since he was 14. The source of this spell was allegedly his own mother, assisted by an duende (monsters that are believed to live in Spain, Portugal, and places with heavy Spanish influence with a variety of traits from helpful to downright silly).

Later on during the reign of Felipe V in 1734, while the monarch was away in Buen Retiro, the palace began to burn for 4 days. When the sovereign in charge of the reconstruction in 1735 decided to build on the ashes of the ruins, the new construction was made of stone. During this time the workers spoke of ghosts, demons and more which traveled throughout the area and climbed the walls. This was when the official decided an exorcism was necessary to do away with the spirits who wished to claim credit for a variety of accidents (I know the article says that the workers attributed the accidents to the spirits, this just sounds better in my mind) which pushed the workers to leave the post.

(Here’s where things get kind of metal) At the end of the work, to ensure the architect never designed another palace like this one, Felipe V ordered that his eyes be taken out, that his arms and tongue be cut off, and that they place a sculpture of his face in the palace. To this day there are claims that the statue of his head is causing noises, and causes a ghostly presence which moves furniture and slams doors.

If you want to read the source of this translation, check it out right here.

If you want some information about the stories within, here we go. The following links are about “The Bewitched KingCarlos II. Here are some about Felipe V and the Palace ablaze. Some of the designers of the royal palace in Madrid are Filippo Juvarra, Giambattista Sacchetti (following Juvarra’s death in 1736), and Francesco Sabatini. I don’t know if that part of the legend where the architect gets killed by the king is true, but it likely isn’t given that I can’t find any mention of it. Another source that mentions this is here. That source talks more about the role of the wife, Isabel de Farnesio.

I honestly can’t find anything about this extreme, yet fascinating claim. Not in English or in Spanish. If I am wrong, please let me know. But either way this is a fascinating set of urban legends and shows off some of the haunted parts of Madrid. Let me know what you thought of this!

Comments

  1. Kreator says

    Ha! These stories don’t scare me, I’ve been to that palace and nothing weird happened. That said, a guard did get angry at me because I forgot to turn off the flash for a picture (just one!), and then proceeded to haunt me like a veritable ghost for the rest of my visit.

  2. Pierce R. Butler says

    If anybody has a right to haunt the Spanish Royal Palace, shouldn’t the victims of the Inquisition be first in line?

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