At one time, I managed to visit one of the most mystical castles in Europe, which has a lot of legends. Rather, the owner of this castle is a mystical and mysterious character, who has become a prototype for a huge number of films, books and TV series in our time. Today I will tell you about Bran Castle, which is better known as Dracula's Castle.
If you are told "Transylvania", then, of course, first of all, everyone will remember the famous Count Dracula, and also his castle on the territory of Romania. Although, the historical heritage of this country is much greater. However, the castle is still a favourite among tourists, which is why I went there. What makes him so interesting besides the figure of the owner? First of all, it has a rather unusual trapezoidal shape. Secondly, you can get lost inside, because the halls and corridors create a rather complex labyrinth.
According to some sources, the castle was built in 1212, and it was a fortress that protected the road passing through the Rucar-Bra gorge. And already, even from the moment of compilation, inaccuracies and various interesting versions of the story appear. According to one of them, the castle was built at the expense of local residents, according to the other, the merchants' association became sponsors, which was exempted from taxes for several centuries because the fortress was a strategically important object.
Throughout history, the castle has had quite a few owners. At the very beginning, it belonged to Mircea the Old, and then it became the property of the residents of Brasov and the Habsburg Empire. Unfortunately, I did not find all the owners of the castle on the Internet, and it would take quite a long time to tell, but I will tell you some interesting facts from more recent history. In 1920, the castle was presented to the Queen of Romania - Maria. The royal family invested money in its restoration, but during the period of socialist power they were sent into exile, and the fortress became state property. At the same time, it began to decline, although in 1956 part of the building was equipped as a museum.
But after the revolution of 1989, Dracula's castle again returned to the ownership of the royal family, after which a large-scale reconstruction of both the building itself and the premises was carried out there. Today, the fortress is owned by Queen Mary's grandson, who leases it to the state for use as a museum and public property.
And now let's talk about why it is called Dracula's Castle. There are several versions. According to one of them, Vlad the Impaler (better known as Count Dracula), liked to stay at Bran Castle during his military campaigns and also liked to hunt in the local forest. According to another version, Turkish enemies tortured Tepes in this castle.
Another version says that Vlad Tepes was the owner of the fortress for a certain period of time. And most of the legends about him were composed precisely during the period of his reign because he was a rather cruel ruler and punished his subjects by all kinds of methods.
However, the castle gained the most popular after the novel by the Irish writer Bram Stoker, who, I'm sure, did not even know that he would become the founder of a new direction in literature and films - "stories about vampires". The prototype of his novel was Vlad the Impaler, who really existed, but what is the truth in the story about him, and what is fiction and legend is not reliably known.
Well, as a bonus, I will tell you about the legend. It seems that from the well, which is placed in the courtyard, there is a passage to a secret dungeon. However, no reliable information about this was found. By the way, this castle is the most expensive real estate in Romania, its value is estimated at 140 million dollars.
You can not only look at the castle itself but also get a lot of emotions and have fun in certain periods of the year. Here you can celebrate Christmas (from December 15 to January 15), which is very interesting! You will hear various carols and take part in folk festivities. Also, entertainment is guaranteed somewhere for Valentine, and Halloween is the best period to visit - a night tour of the castle, dancing, wine, as well as special guests (entertainers): Dracula, his daughter Mavis, mummies and other characters from the cartoon "Hotel Transylvania".
Bran has located 170 km from the capital of Romania - Bucharest, 150 km from the city of Sibiu and 30 km from Brasov. There are hotels in Bran, but there are many more in Brasov, besides, Brasov is quite a large city with a developed infrastructure. Only three-star hotels can be booked in Bran.
The exact coordinates of the castle are 45.51512, 25.36746
