The Cursed Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona

Built on supposedly cursed ground, this theater in Barcelona has faced many tragedies. After several fires trying to close the doors of Gran Teatre del Liceu, people have come to believe that the building is haunted possibly by a curse they have no idea how to break.

Spain is known for its ancient theaters and the stories of ghosts that haunt them. Many people have reported sightings of strange figures and other paranormal activities in these theaters that just don’t want to let the past go.

Read more: Check out all of our ghost stories from Spain

The haunted theaters in Spain are an interesting subject to explore. They offer a glimpse into the history of the country as well as a chance to explore the supernatural world. From tales of ghostly apparitions to mysterious sounds and unexplainable events, these theaters have something for everyone who is interested in exploring the unknown.

Oftentimes, the cursed places call for attention to the places history, and the street where this cursed theater is located, has a long one.

The Bustling La Rambla in Barcelona

All the way since the middle ages La Rambla has been a center of Barcelona’s urban life with markets, festivals and sports as well as more serious and sinister things.

Built on supposedly cursed ground, this theater in Barcelona has faced many tragedies. After several fires trying to close the doors of Gran Teatre del Liceu, people have come to believe that the building is haunted and possibly a curse they have no idea how to break. — **The Haunted Gran Teatre del Liceu:** The theater in Barcelona is thought to be built on cursed ground and have gone through many difficulties and mysterious incidents.

According to legend, this old theater in Barcelona was built upon cursed ground in 1847. During the middle ages, it is said that the place was used for executions and was therefore haunted and cursed.

What we do know is that the gallows in La Rambla, las forca de la Rambla were placed by the entrance to La Boqueria on the same street right around the corner from where the theater is today.

Gran Teatre del Liceu – the Oldest Running Theater in Town

The Grand Theatre of the Lyceum is usually only known as El Liceu located on La Rambla and is the oldest running theater in Barcelona and from its opening until 1989 the Liceu was the largest opera house in Europe that could seat 2 338 people.

The theater was built in an unused Monastery and ended up being associated with the aristocracy and upper-middle class. This also drew people to the theater that wanted to end the upper class regime.

The Killed Monks in the Ground

Long before it turned into a theater, the place was an abandoned convent. The Virgen de la Buena Monastery of the Trinitarian order was built in 1662.

The Trinitarian order was begun for their mission to free christian that were in captivity by muslims. This was a time with many crusades to the middle east and Spain were also overtaken several places south in Spain by muslims.

There is also a legend that it was the place where there was a convent there with Trinitarian monks that were killed during a riot that happened there. The dead monks were buried under the ground where they were killed.

Whether this legend is true, is uncertain, but there certainly were riots happening in Barcelona that targeted religious buildings. When there was riots in Barcelona in 1835, the convent was lit on fire and burned and the monks left the place.

The Trinitarian convent building was then rebuilt into the theater. No matter if the story of the execution grounds or the murdered monks are true, it is used as a base to explain the legend that the theater is cursed and the reason why the building has seen so many tragedies over the years.

The Many Fires in the Cursed Theater

The first major tragedy that happened was when the building was severely damaged by a fire in 1861 that started in the tailor workshop, the people blamed it all on the curse. Was perhaps it from the curse of the monks? Were they fed up by the celebration of something so pagan like the carnival? Were their graves disturbed when they built the building?

It was in the middle of the carnival celebrations and everyone wore masks and it could have been anyone. Among the smoking ruins the police found an ominous note that said: An owl I am, alone I am. If you build it again, I’ll burn it again.

Could it just be a paper from the many plays in the building? could it be something more ominous and connected to the curse?
Despite the warnings, they quickly rebuilt the opera house and opened again on 9th of April 1861. Only the facade, the entrance hall and the foyer called Mirrors Hall remained from the old theater and the building awaited its curse to hit once again.

The Bombing of the Anarchist

In 1893 tragedy struck again when 20 people died as they were killed by an anarchist named Santiago Salvador. He threw two Orsini bombs into the stalls and watched it all explode and the bombing shocked Barcelona and became a symbol of the turbulent time of social unrest the country was in.

The theater opened again on 18th of January in 1894, but the seats that those who were killed in the bombing were not used for many years after this.

Could we really put this terrorist act on the supposed curse of the building?

The Last Fire of the Theater

In 1994 the building burned to the ground because of another fire. Apparently it happened when a spark accidentally fell on the curtain during a respiration. The theater was once again being rebuilt in 1999 with new and improved facilities.

During the almost 30 years since its last reopening the theater has had no more damaging scandals and the building has remained intact.

Is the curse now lifted, or will the place in fact burn down once again? There is an additional legend about the place. During the riots, the nearby convent of Mount Sion shared the same fate as the Trinitarian monastery. According to the legend, the prioress had a ring that was buried in the foundations of the new theater and cast a curse upon the place.

It is said that the danger will continue to loom over the theater until someone finds the ring of the prioress of Mount Sion in the foundations, and as of yet, there are no one that has found it.