BRAN CASTLE

'Bran Castle' (; ), situated near Bran and in the immediate vicinity of Braşov, Romania, is a national monument and landmark.
Commonly known as 'Dracula's Castle', Bran Castle was originally built as a stronghold by the Teutonic Knights in 1212. The first documentary attestation of Bran Castle is the act issued by Louis I of Hungary on November 19, 1377, giving the Saxons of Kronstadt (Braşov) the privilege to build the Citadel. The building started in 1378 as a defense against the Turks, and later became a customs post on the mountain pass between Transylvania and Wallachia. For a short period of time, the castle belonged to Mircea the Elder of Wallachia. From 1920, the castle became a royal residence until the expulsion of the royal family by the Communist regime in 1948. Today it functions as a museum of medieval arts.
The fortress is situated on the border between Transylvania and Wallachia, on Highway 73. In addition to its unique architecture, the castle is famous because of persistent myths that it was once the home of Vlad III Dracula; however, there is no evidence that he ever lived there. According to most accounts, Dracula spent two days in the Bran dungeon, as the area was occupied by the Ottoman Empire at the time.
The castle is open to tourists, who can view the inside by themselves or as part of a guided tour. At the bottom of the hill is a small park to which examples of traditional Romanian peasant structures (cottages, barns, etc.) from across the country have been moved.



The castle passed through royal hands for many generations. At the beginning of the 20th century, for sometime, it was the principal home of Queen Marie, who, despite her British birth and upbringing, became quite a Romanian patriot. The castle is decorated largely with artifacts from her time, including traditional furniture and tapestries that she collected to highlight Romanian crafts and skills. It was inherited by her daughter, Princess Ileana of Romania, and was later seized by the government in 1948. For many years it was tended to erratically, but after being restored in the 1980s and the Romanian Revolution of 1989, it became a sought-after tourist destination.
The legal heir of the castle is the Princess's son, Archduke Dominic of Austria, Prince of Tuscany (known as Dominic von Habsburg, an architect in New York State); in 2006, the Romanian government returned the castle to him.^[1] In 2007, Habsburg put the castle up for sale for a price of £40 million ($78 million).^[2] On July 2, 2007, Michael Gardner, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Baytree Capital, the New York investment firm which has been retained to create a plan for the castle and to sell it, predicted it would sell for more than $135 million, but added that Habsburgs will only sell it to a buyer "who will treat the property and its history with appropriate respect." ^[3]

Contents

"Dracula's Castle"

See also

References

External links

"Dracula's Castle"

Bram Stoker, who fashioned portions of his character Count Dracula based on aspects of Vlad the Impaler, allegedly used Bran Castle as his model for Dracula's Castle. Bran Castle was subsequently featured in multiple film adaptations of ''Dracula'', and has informally become known as 'Dracula's Castle'. The local economy has made use of the connection to boost tourism; a small market exists at the castle gates selling every imaginable article connected with, or depicting the portrait of, Dracula and vampires.

See also

★ Poienari Castle

References

1. Son stakes Dracula castle claim, ''BBC News'', May 26, 2006
2. "Vlad the unique selling point", ''The Daily Telegraph'', January 6, 2007
3. Alexandru Alexe, "Heir puts 'Dracula's Castle' for sale", ''Associated Press'', July 2, 2007.

External links

★ Bran Castle Museum official website

★ Dracula's Castle - fan website

★ Pictures inside the castle

★ Pictures of Bran Castle and the Bran Castle Museum

★ Detailed instructions about how to get to Bran Castle — with estimated local travel costs

★ Legend and the facts surrounding Romania's most famous castle

★ Castelul Bran — picture gallery, related books, and articles

★ Michael Gardner's biography on Baytree Capital's website