In parallel with the concentration of activity within the , the Greater Palace began to be regarded as increasingly unsafe, especially by night. One reason may be the prevalent superstition of the period: uninhabited buildings were avoided for fear of spirits and ghosts, and even the great compound was thought to be haunted. In addition, the level of actual security maintained at the palace went into decline, and by the early 11th century only one palace gate, the in the east, appears to have been guarded. Hence burglary and even violent crime became a problem within the palace by the first half of 11th century.