Bran Castle
(Castelul Bran)
Not Dracula's Castle
Castle Bran looks like the sort of castle that might have belonged to Dracula (Vlad Tepes [Ţepeş], or Vlad the Impaler). However, that's not the case ... even though modern tourists will find all sorts of small merchants outside the gates trying to sell handicrafts and Dracula trinkets.
Actually, the location of the real Castle Dracula is on the other side of the mountains. It (or, more accurately, its ruins) sits atop a remote mountain peak in the foothills of the Fagaras (Făgăraş) range, just north of the city of Curtea-de-Arges (Curtea-de-Argeş), the old ecclesiastical capital of Transylvania. Most likely the real Castle Dracula was built, not by Dracula, but by one of the Basarab princes in the 14th century.
When Dracula came to the throne in 1456, the castle of the Arges was in ruins, having suffered serious damage at the hands of both Turkish and Tatar invaders. Dracula decided to rebuild it for military reasons — to control the mountain pass.
But getting back to the subject of Castle Bran. Dracula did take refuge in Castle Bran in 1462, during his flight from the Turks. However, the fascinating story of Dracula is covered in more detail in the Romanian History Department. So we'll leave Dracula out of this album.
Ancient Teutonic Fortress
Founded in 1212, Castle Bran was originally a fortress of the Teutonic Order of knights. It lies some 16 miles southwest of Brasov (Braşov). Later, at the end of the 13th century (c.1377), German Saxons used the fortress to protect Brasov against invaders. For a short period of time during the reign of Prince Mircea, it was given by Emperor Sigismund to a series of Transylvanian princes. Eventually, it was given to the city of Brasov. It also served as a customs station.
German merchants in Brasov and Sibiu conducted a rather lucrative trade between Transylvania and Wallachia. Transylvanian merchants traveled though the southern mountain passes at Bran and Turnu Rosu (Turnu Roşu), heading south toward market towns in Wallachia — Campulung (Câmpulung), Targoviste (Târgovişte), and Tirgsor (Tîrgsor) and the ports of Braila (Brăila) and Chilia on the Danube delta.
Modern Castle
Bran Castle sits atop a 200-foot tall rock, overlooking the picturesque village of Bran. The castle's towers and rooms surround an inner courtyard. Some rooms are connected to the courtyard through underground tunnels. Today it is home to a rich collection of Romanian and foreign furniture and art from the 14th-19th centuries. On the grounds surrounding the castle, there is an open-air ethnographic museum containing replicas of old village buildings with exhibits of furniture, household objects, and costumes.
In 1920 the people of Brasov, who owned the castle, offered it to Queen Maria of Romania. The castle soon became her favorite residence.
Returned to Heirs
On Friday, 26 May 2006, Bran Castle and the surrounding land was returned to the heirs of Princess Ileana, who inherited the castle from her mother, Queen Maria, 58 years after it had been seized by communist authorities. The new owners of the complex are Archduke Dominic Habsburg-Lothringen, Baroness Maria Magdalena Holzhausen, and Archduchess Elizabeth Sandhofer of Austria. The transfer took place at the castle, signed by Adrian Iorgulescu, Minister of Culture and Religious Affairs, and by local authorities from Bran, including the Bran Museum director.
The castle will continue to be managed by the same Board for three years. It will remain open to Romanian and foreign tourists. When asked about their intentions for the castle, the heirs said nothing is certain yet. The archduke added, however, that moving to the castle was out of the question since he lives in America at the present. But he didn't rule out the idea of turning the castle into a hotel.
When asked about the association of Dracula with the castle, Dominic was quick to state that it was nothing but a myth.
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