Dracula Castle

Description:

Whoever goes to Bran should without fail visit Castle Bran, built in 1212 by a Teutonic knight. Today, Castle Bran has become synonym with Vlad the Impeller, alias Dracula. Whether we like it or not, however, the history of the castle has very little links to the character in question.

Previously, King Andrei II of Hungary (1176-1235) had setup the order of Teutonic Knights in the Bârsa Land, recently conquered by the Hungarians. The knights were given the task of defending the eastern border of the land against the Cumanians and of spreading Catholicism among the "pagans". Fourteen years later, in 1225, the Teutons were driven out, following armed conflict. In the mean time, they had built around seven castles, including Bran. In 1212, one of these German knights, Dietrich or Theoderic by name, had constructed a wooden fortress on top of a sixty-metre high crag, which then came to be known as the Dietrichstein or Lapis Tyderici. It is seems that the German name Törzburg derives hence, becoming Torcs or Terch in Hungarian. The latter is the origin of the Romanian narne Turciu, as the citadel was to be called until 1474. It is only after this date that the castle, now a defensive bastion against Ottoman invasion, was to be known as Bran, from the Slavonic

Brana ("gate"). The old name of the citadel is now recalled only by the River Turcul, which flows nearby.

In 1377, the Saxons of the Barsa Land, who had conquered the Teutons' fortifications at the end of the thirteenth century, built a stone castle in its place. These events took place during the reign of Hungarian King Ludovic I of Anjou (1342-1382), who had accorded the Saxons the right to build "at their own expense and effort". In 1369, there occurred the first Turkish incursion into Wallachia. As a result, in March 1395, Mircea the Old (1386-1418) forged an alliance with the King of Hungary; Sigismund of Luxemburg (1386-1437): the two monarchs promised to support each other in the struggle against the Ottoman armies. On the occasion of the treaty; Sigismund gave Mircea two castles, one of them at Bran. In 1419, Sigismund took back the castle from Mihail, Mircea's son and successor, and entrusted it to the Szekler County, subordinate to the voievod of Transylvania. Later, Iancu of Hunedoara (1441-1456) repaired and strengthened Bran, then entrusted the defence of  southem Transylvania to Vlad the Impeller, who had lost the throne of Wallachia. It is highly possible that the Impeller may have visited Bran, which was an important border post, but there is no historical evidence to this effect. Bran was later to enter into the hands of the citizens of Brasov, from whom it was fraudulently seized by the Voievod of Transylvania, Gabriel Bathory (1608-1613), in 1612. Prince Gabriel Bethlen (1613-1629) renovated the castle in the Renaissance style. In 1651, Prince Rakoczy    (1648-1660) sold the castle back to the people of Brasov, who were to own it until the twentieth century.

Although the castle was solely military in scope, in time it came to have a mainly commercial role, as the customs point between Transylvania and Muntenia. After the customs point was moved from Bran to Giuvala, the castle lost its economic importance.

On 1 December 1920, the Town Council of Brasov donated Castle Bran to Queen Maria, in recognition of her contribution to the achievement of the Great Union of 1 December 1918.

From the moment Castle Bran entered into her possession, Queen Maria began thinking of the changes that had to be made in order to transform it into her summer residence. Between 1920 and 1927, the court architect, Karel Liman, supervised the restoration work. The military aspect of the castle was "softened". It is true that the exterior could not be modified very much, but on he other hand the interiors were subject to astonishing changes: the Great Hall, decorated in the German Renaissance style; the Yel1ow Room, the Music Room, King Carol the Second's Tyrolean Chamber, Prince Nicolae's Saxon Chamber) Furniture was brought from Venice, Florence, Spain and Germany. A number of rooms were furnished in the old Romanian and Saxon styles. Various accessories "lightened" the atmosphere of the somber wa1ls of former days: precious vases, Russian ceramics, Turkish and English chandeliers, old icons, paintings, Baroque statuettes. A third and fourth floor were added to the building, as well as two towers for staircases. Two loggias were built: one in the inner courtyard, the other on the third floor. A chapel, with murals painted by Arthur Verona in 1927, was installed on the ground floor of one of the towers and a terrace on the fourth floor. The stoves were transformed into fireplaces. Tourists may now visit a castle that combines both Gothic and Renaissance elements with rustic Transylvanian architecture. The castle houses the Bran Museum, where the public can view priceless collections of mediaeval art and artifacts: furniture, painting, sculpture, and icons on wood and on glass.

In 1987, a Customs Museum was inaugurated in the old mediaeval customs house at Bran. It is known that through these parts passed goods on their way to Flanders, Germany,Turkey, the Middle East etc. On display there are documents regarding the type of goods in transit through the Bran Pass, as well as maps, mediaeval coins, seals, weighing instruments, and vehicles

In the castle park there is a Museum of Bran Village, where one can see various types of peasant household and traditional installations (for the working of wood or wool, for example).

Location: the village of Bran, 498 Traian Mosoiu Street; 16 miles southwest of Brasov;

Accessibility: road - buses leave from Brasov's bus station, Autogara 2 and are marked ‘Moieciu-Bran; The journey takes 40 minutes.

Opening hours: Tuesday through Sunday, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and until 4 p.m. from October to April;