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Shortened history of the castle:
Deep in the Carpathian Mountains, in the heart of rural Romania is Transylvania, where perched atop a rocky peak, there has been a fortress of some kind for nearly 1,000 years and the fortress that stands here today is now known as Dracula's Castle even though the actual Castle Dracula is in ruin on a secluded site near the Arges River.
Bran Castle was originally a stronghold built by the Knights of the Teutonic Order in 1212. At that time it was called Dietrichstein. By the late 1200's the castle had been overtaken by the Saxons who had used the castle to protect Brasov, an important trade center.
In 1370 the fortress was used against invading Turks. It remained an important feudal fortress through out the middle ages, its role was the defence against invasion.
Vlad III was nicknamed Dracula is an important historical character of Romania. But usually few is know about him, or at least few true facts are revealed... Dracula has been for a long time called the impaler and most of the information known about him comes from pamphlets published in Germany and Russia, and the Romanian verbal tradition, after his death. The German pamphlets painted Dracula as "a inhuman butchering monster, who sadistically terrorized the innocent." The Russian pamphlets viewed Dracula "as a cruel but just Prince, whose actions were solely directed towards the greater good of his people." Legends told by the Romanian peasantry remembered Dracula as "a just Prince who defended his people from foreigners, whether they were Turkish invaders or German merchants." And he is also remembered as "a hero of the common man against the oppression of the noblemen." His fierce obsession with honesty is a central part of the verbal tradition. Despite the more positive interpretation, the Romanian verbal tradition also remembers him as a exceptionally cruel and often capricious ruler. There are several events that are common to all three regardless of nation of origin. They are:
The Golden Cup: Known throughout for his fierce insistence of honesty. Few thiefs practiced their trade in his domain, They knew the punishment if they got caught. Dracula became so confident in the effectiveness of his law he kept a golden cup on display in the central square of Trigoviste, where is remained never touched throughout his reign.
The Two Monks: There are several versions but they all boil down to this: Two Monks visit Dracula at his palace in Tirgoviste. Curious of the churchmen's reaction, Dracula shows them rows of impaled corpse in the courtyard. When asked their opnions, one monk responded , "You are appointed by God to punish evildoers." The other monk had the moral courage to condemn his cruelty. One version says Dracula rewarded the sycophantic monk and impaled the honest monk, and in the other version, Dracula rewards the honest monk for his integrity and courage and impaled the sycophant for his dishonesty.
The Polish Nobleman: Benedict de Boithor, a Polish nobleman visited Dracula in 1458. At dinner a golden spear was set directly infront of the nobleman. When asked why he thought the spear had been set up, Benedict answered, he thought some noble had offended the prince. Dracula responded that he had and that the spear was set up for him. Benedict replied if he had done anything to deserve death that Dracula should do as he thought best. Benedict then added in that case Dracula would not be responsible for his death because he had displeased the Prince. Greatly pleased with his answer, Dracula showered the man with gifts while declaring that had he answered in other way he would have been immediately impaled.
The Foreign Ambassadors: When granted an audience with the Prince the envoys refused to remove their hats as was the custom when in the presence of the Prince of Wallachia. Angered by this sign of disrespect Dracula had the Ambassadors' hats nailed to their heads so they might never remove them.
The castle has four towers, the Powder House Tower is the oldest, it is part of the original castle built in 1212. In the 15th century during restoration of the castle the Observation Tower and the Eastern Tower were added. The Eastern Tower was built with murder holes that were used by the soldiers to drop hot water and pitch on the castles attackers. In 1622 the Gate Tower was added and the castle's south wall was strengthened to 11 feet of thickness to withstand cannon fire.
In 1921, Queen Maria of Romania, brought the royal court architect to Bran Castle for extensive renovations which transformed this "fortress" into a Royal Residence.
Opening times and additionnal information:
Visiting hours :
Monday: 12pm to 7pm
Tuesday - Sunday: 9am to 7pm
e-mail: info@brancastlemuseum.ro
