Spain Trip #31: Alhambra Palace Part 4: A Haunted Place and Some Ghost Encounters!

Alhambra Palace lit up in ghostly white light 

Now that we've told you the history, artwork and architecture of Granada's Alhambra Palace and gardens, walked you through it and shown you pictures, we'll tell you about the ghosts we encountered there! Since the history of the palace dates back to 1238, there are a lot of opportunities for dead people to hang around... and they did. So, first, you need to know the difference between a residual haunt and an intelligent haunt.

WHAT'S A RESIDUAL HAUNT? A residual haunt is basically energy left behind from an emotional incident that happened in the past and it absorbed into the structure. When live people enter the building, they bring energy that "lights up" the absorbed energy, and the living person can experience those ancient emotions... it's like adding water to a damp sponge and you feel it get wet again.

Alhambra in the distance

WHAT'S AN INTELLIGENT HAUNT? That's when there's an actual ghost (Earthbound energy) of a person or animal that lives in a place and can answer questions or let living people know that they are there.

RESIDUAL HAUNT #1: In the very first large room that we entered, Rob sensed a lot of anxiety. That was a room where people who entered the palace were nervous to meet the ruler. We learned that room was once a "porch" and later made into a chapel.

Throne Room. Credit: Pinterest, Yanzoo Ocio

RESIDUAL HAUNT #2: The same feelings of anxiety, and nervousness were experienced in the Sultan's Throne Room in the forecort. That also makes perfect sense, since people who would be greeting the ruler for the first time would be nervous. It's just weird walking into a totally empty room and feeling anxious!

RESIDUAL HAUNT #3: As we left the Sultan's Throne Room and entered a room with very ornamented walls, the energy was palpable. The room was actually used as a place where guests were received. It was located directly behind an indoor pool. Once we entered, I (Rob) felt anxiety levels increase. My legs actually started trembling like I was super nervous.

Fountain of Lions

GHOST (INTELLIGENT HAUNT) #1: The sixth room we walked through was actually a corridor. That's where I encountered a male ghost who lived in the palace (I think in the 1400s). The ghost made me feel as if my head slammed against a wall! 
    He told me he was a Moor and that his name sounded like "Tared" but it could have been "Khalid" or "Zayd." The latter 2 are actual names (I looked them up) and sound like what I heard.  The name "Khalid" in Arabic, it means ‘magnificent or everlasting.’ The name "Zayd"  means ‘growth, abundance, or plenty."
  The ghost said that he after he was slammed against a wall, he was killed by a knife. That's when I actually felt a knife against the left side of neck! This area was right next to the Fountain of Lions.

The haunted tunnels where the ghostly slave dwells

GHOST (INTELLIGENT HAUNT) #2: The basement had tunnels where slaves dwelled. As we walked into a room that had two open doorways with curved arches I was suddenly pushed against a wall just left of the doorway I walked through. I was actually slammed against the wall! Even my legs started shaking. There was male ghost in here, too. This ghost was a slave who was beaten and died in the basement near these doorways. After his beating, he died and was confused when he awoke as energy. He showed me that he walked back down one of the dark tunnels trying to find the man who beat him, and not realizing he was dead. He continued to look for his killer by walking all throughout the basement, and soon lost the ability to cross over. So he continues to walk the basement, and every time a man sensitive to spirit comes into the room he pushes them against the wall. I told him that man is long dead, and he needs to stop attacking innocent people, some 800 years after his death!

NEXT: Hookah and the Rat, Medina, Washington Irving and a Moorish Lunch