WhatFinger


Transylvanian, Carpathian Mountains, Vlad Tepes

Bran’s Castle and the Legend of Count Dracula



imageWe found our way to Bran’s Castle via the city of Rasnov. We were surrounded by the majestic Carpathian Mountains, snow topped and covered with forests of blue spruce. The villages, with typical Transylvanian wood and rock homes of the western Romanian province, reminded me of Grandma’s cabin on the salt mountain in Wallachia, the southern province of Romania. Brown bears often visited our porch, looking for food. Wolves were howling at night, too close for comfort, their eyes shining in the dark. The winding roads with hairpin curves offered breathtaking views of different peaks, some rocky with sheer cliffs, and devoid of any vegetation. Dizzying ravines reminded us of what could happen at nightfall if our driving faltered. Rivers were discharging angry waters at the bottom of straight drops.
The balmy fall weather with a gentle sun cast golden and green hues of comforting shadows on the picturesque landscape. Waterfalls distant and near thundered and broke the silence, echoing against the rocky cliffs. It was as close to heaven as anyone alive could be. We parked at the bottom of the ravine and started walking up the steep cobbled road, flanked by old spruce trees. Suddenly, a giant rock revealed one of the castle towers. Built of river rock, stone, brick, and wood, the castle had an irregular shape to fit its narrow location on a crag. The view from the eagle’s nest could easily scan miles of terrain on a clear day. The inspirational castle of Bram Stoker’s “Dracula,” was strategically located on a rocky bluff, difficult to conquer, tiny by any definition of a castle, and surrounded by stone turrets. The savage nature of the landscape surrounded it with mystique.

Support Canada Free Press


Bran Castle was built more than 600 years ago. In 1377, King Louis gave the citizens of Brasov the right to raise a fort at Bran at their expense. A citadel was erected by 1382. In early 1400s, the fortress was entrusted to Mircea cel Batrin to help the Wallachian ruler to continue his anti-Ottoman policy. The one and only reference to Vlad Tepes was in 1459 when his troops passed through Bran, attacked and looted Brasov, following the disputes between the Wallachian ruler and the Brasov traders. The castle changed hands several times until 1920 when the town of Brasov donated it to the new sovereigns of the New Romania. Turning the castle from a ruin into a habitable castle, Queen Mary of Romania, with the help of Czech architect Karel Liman, brought water and electricity to the fortress. Three neighboring villages were also connected to the electric plant and the queen had three telephones installed in the castle and an elevator. Queen Mary turned the old fortress into a genuine royal court. She died at her royal residence at Peles Castle in the town of Sinaia on July 18, 1938. imagePeles Castle, the royal residence In her will, the queen left Bran Castle to Princess Ileana of Romania. Mary’s heart was buried at Bran Castle in a chapel cut in stone. After the forced abdication of King Mihai of Romania in 1947, the communists took over, and the castle became the property of the state and thus a museum. When communism fell in 1989, the royal family requested their properties be returned and, on May 18, 2009, the royal heirs received Bran Castle back. They restored it as Queen Mary’s favorite retreat and reopened it as a museum of the never dying citadel. The inner courtyard is tiny but has room for a well. A rocky, natural beauty is adorned by red geraniums and dark wood railings. The warm ochre painted turrets and a balcony wrap irregularly around the courtyard. imageThere is a secret passage to the upper floors into the main turret with a 360-degree view. The stairs are winding and narrow, difficult to climb and rather cold. A drafty chill blew and brushed my left side as if a hand was trying to touch my shoulder. I looked over my left several times; I felt an eerie unease. How many have escalated this secret passage and for what purpose? imageThe queen’s bedroom, study, and other courtly rooms were beautifully restored but very modest by royal standards. The furniture was hand-carved, ornate, solid, and almost ascetic when compared to the opulence in Peles Castle, the royals’ main residence. Mary was often pictured on castle grounds in her native costume, handmade blouses and skirts from the local artisans. The cloth, the thread, and the intricate designs were all handcrafted or hand-loomed. The wool in the rugs was spun, hand-dyed, and loomed by locals. The numerous wooden creaky stairs and the solid, narrow passage carved into the rock have been witnesses to fascinating history for hundreds of years. It was strange stepping back in time, imagining what shadows were lurking in every corner, watching my curious ascent into history. imageThe inner courtyard of Bran’s Castle Bram Stoker chose Transylvania, the western province of Romania, as the location of his 1897 gothic novel “Dracula” because of the dark, foreboding feel of the area even when it was bathed in sunshine. The myth of Dracula was so attached to Vlad Tepes and Bran Castle that the locals, when asked about it, shrugged their shoulders with amused looks, and went about their business. imageThe real Vlad Tepes, the inspiration source for Count Dracula, was known for his strong resistance and valiant battles against the advancement and occupation of the Ottoman Empire. “Voievode” Vlad was a real hero and founding father to the local population. Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia (1431-1476), was named posthumously “Vlad the Impaler,” for his habit of impaling his enemies and those condemned for capital punishment. Tepes was his Romanian moniker for “Impaler.” He ruled mainly from 1456-1462, the incipient period of the Ottoman conquest of the Balkans. Of the house of Draculesti, Vlad III, son of Vlad II Dracul, was born in Sighisoara, Transylavania and died in Bucharest, Wallachia. Dracula is Romanian for “the son of the Devil.” Historians argue over the meaning of the Latin “draco” (dragon). Vlad was of the order of the dragon bestowed on his father to defend Christianity. However, the Romanian word for dragon is “balaur.” “Dracul” is identified in modern parlance as the “devil.” The Ambras Castle portrait of Vlad III, c. 1560, is reputedly a copy of an original made during his lifetime. imageThe Ambras Castle Portrait of Vlad III, c. 1560 Stoker never set foot himself in this “savage” land. Historians described it “barbaric” in earlier third century Roman times when Trajan encountered the resistance of the bearded Dacians. Trajan’s Column in Rome describes in vivid marble relief, the valiant battles between the Romans and the Dacians, which resulted in the colonization of Dacia. The Romans called any foreigner a “barbarus,” Latin for “foreign” or “bearded.” Count Dracula is Bram Stoker’s bloodthirsty villain who lives perennially cursed as a vampire, condemned across the centuries to a life of darkness in a mysterious coffin. Vlad II himself used the word Dracula in letters and documents that survive in Romanian museums. Several sources that describe him have obvious elements of bias in their depiction. Romanians saw him as a hero who defended Transylvania from the Turkish hordes and from lawlessness. Russians described him as cruel in his justice and desire for order. The Turks told about the horrors he inflicted on their soldiers during the battles of 1461-62. Germans printed woodcuts of his portrait and of his alleged atrocities. Pamphlets with horror stories such as “The Frightening and Truly Extraordinary Story of a Wild Blood-Drinking Tyrant Called Prince Dracula” were printed in German and found in Nuremberg and other cities, dating from the 1488-1521 periods. Stoker visited London libraries and captured an amazingly accurate description of the surroundings from travel books and friends’ accounts. The real Dracula Castle where Bram Stoker positioned his character, Dracula, is located in Tihuta Pass in Bargau Mountains, difficult to access except on foot. The real Dracula Castle at Poenari is a ruin north of Curtea de Arges with a strategic location to keep the invading Ottoman hordes at bay. Approximately 1,500 steps with metal rails lead up to the walls that formed the former citadel of Vlad Tepes. imageCastle Poenari, the real Dracula’s Castle Taking control of the castle was difficult because of its size and strategic location. However, in 1888 a landslide crashed a portion of the castle far into the river below. Foreign visitors were allowed during the communist regime to spend the night inside the remaining ruins, which had been repaired. Prince Charles, related to the Romanian royal house, walked in May 2003 the 20 km (12.5 miles) between Romania’s Putna and Sucevita Monasteries, a popular day-trip, praising the locals for their dedication to traditional lifestyles and heritage. The local population does not have a choice in their lifestyles. They are very poor, a forced-poverty from the former communist regime that made sure that nobody got ahead of anybody else and everyone survived on a subsistence level, a lifestyle that Prince Charles desires for everybody else. He and his progressive friends would like to establish such a traditional lifestyle across the globe, so long as he and other elites are exempted. Prince Charles, who took a liking to Romania years ago, loves Transylvania, with its huge bear and wolf population. A nature conservancy advocate, he visited the area often. Promoting his recent visit, he was overheard saying, “Vlad Tepes is my ancestor.” Which begs the question, how do you resemble Vlad Tepes, your Highness?


View Comments

Dr. Ileana Johnson Paugh -- Bio and Archives

Dr. Ileana Johnson Paugh, Ileana Writes is a freelance writer, author, radio commentator, and speaker. Her books, “Echoes of Communism”, “Liberty on Life Support” and “U.N. Agenda 21: Environmental Piracy,” “Communism 2.0: 25 Years Later” are available at Amazon in paperback and Kindle.


Sponsored