The Palacio De Lecumberri
Mexico’s National Archive is today held in a building that has such a fierce reputation, the locals refer to it as the Black Palace. The Palacio De Lecumberri continues to stand tall in its foreboding glory as a notoriously recognizable landmark and now an important government building. This location earned its reputation long before it held important pieces of Mexico‘s history, having formerly functioned as one of the most formidable prisons in the country.
1900 saw the opening of the Palacio De Lecumberri as a prison and it didn’t take long for the institution to gain a negative image. This prison was commonly regarded as being one of the harshest places to serve time in the Americas. Corruption soon took hold of the building, which saw many innocent souls and political prisoners locked up. Over the next 76 years, the Palacio De Lecumberri saw many deaths within its walls from sickness, murder and suicide. Some people claim that the dark history the Black Palace holds could be responsible for paranormal activity that has been reported in the building to this day.
Ghosts of the Palacio De Lecumberri
The Palacio De Lecumberri is often regarded as being one of the most haunted places in Mexico City. Countless reports of ghostly activity happening within the building have been put forward by both staff and visitors. One of the most common experiences is to hear the deafening screams of what can only be described as former prisoners in pain, or enduring torture.
Although these disembodied sounds are eerie they don’t hold a flame to the most prevalent ghost story told about the haunted Palacio De Lecumberri. The main ghost said to haunt the former prison is that of an inmate named Don Jacinto. Don is mostly seen at night, walking the former cellblocks. He will usually also recite the same line, over and over: “again, Amelia didn’t come.” Legend has it that Don was madly in love with Amelia in life. He was, however, betrayed by her in the worst way. She supposedly cheated on him before framing him for a murder he did not commit. Although scorned by Amelia, his love for her seems to have prevailed throughout his time spent at the jail and into his afterlife.
Other versions of Don’s story paint him as the cleaner of the former prison and not an inmate. Don remains just as love-sick for Amelia in this story too, as he continues to wait for her to visit him in the afterlife. Whatever the truth of this story is, it remains a matter of legend associated with the Palacio De Lecumberri.
Visiting the Haunted Palacio De Lecumberri
The Palacio De Lecumberri can be visited by the general public who are interested in learning more about and sighting some of the most important documents in Mexico, as part of the National Archive. The building is run as a museum and entry is free. It is an interesting place to see, especially how cell blocks have now been converted into office space.
If you enjoyed this article you might also be interested in another of Mexico’s most haunted places, the Island of the Dolls.
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