Bran Castle, situated between Bucegi and Piatra Craiului Mountains, is a national monument and landmark in Romania. Most people know Bran Castle as “Dracula’s Castle”, from Bram Stoker’s novel. There is, however, no evidence that Stoker knew anything about this castle, which has only tangential associations with Vlad III, voivode of Wallachia, the putative inspiration for Dracula.
Bran Castle it’s an amazing example of 14Th century Gothic architecture that looks like it was carefully placed on top of a mountain. The exterior is truly impressive. All the walls are plastered over, ruining the feel of being in a spooky old castle. The building of Bran Castle started somewhere around the year 1378. The constructors somehow succeeded in combining wood with the rock brought from Magura Branului.
The castle had a protective and commercial purpose. It had two rows of walls closing the passing towards South. Only few traces of the initial defense position still exist. The first documented mentioning of Bran Castle is the act issued by Louis I of Hungary on November 19, 1377, giving the Saxons of Kronstadt (Brasov) the privilege to build the stone citadel on their own expense and labor force.
In 1920, the castle became a royal residence within the Kingdom of Romania. It became the favorite home and retreat of Queen Marie. The castle was inherited by her daughter Princess Ileana and was later seized by the communist regime with the expulsion of the royal family in 1948. The castle is now a museum open to tourists, dislaying art and furniture collected by Queen Marie. Tourists can see the interior individually or by a guided tour.
At the bottom of the hill is a small open air museum park exhibiting traditional Romanian peasant structures from across the country. The fortress at nearby Rasnov is also interesting with fewer crowds.
Photo source
I. C.
