Bran Castle on Bing

Bing.com is presenting Bran Castle, near Brașov, Romania, on the front page. This happens on Romania's National Day, December, 1st. Nice! 
In the past, I presented Bran castle, sometimes referred to as Dracula's Caslte

Bran Castle

Well, this is a short presentation of Bran Castle, covered also here, here.

While the presentation is quite OK, what they don't say is that the castle doesn't look at all as it used to look in the XV-th century. Also they mention that Vlad III Dracula "used the castle during raids". Is probably only once that he used it in 1415, and even this is not sure. Apart from this, the movie is a very short introduction of what Bran Castle is today, it worth watching.

Snagov Monastery and Bran Castle

This amateur video presents images from Snagov Monastery, where Vlad III Dracula was allegedly been buried, as well as from Bucegi Mountains, seen from the national road and from Bran Castle.

Two places presented as "Dracula places", but which probably where only visited by Vlad Ţepeş once. We know Snagov is very probable NOT the burial place of Vlad Ţepeş. Also, the images from Bran Castle are nice, so they help having an idea about the look of the castle, seen from outside but also pictures from the castle's inner court and from the rooms.

The Amazing Race near Bran Castle

The Amazing Race went to Romania. Even if they present Bran as Dracula's Castle, I linked to the video because it gives opportunity to see the places around Bran, the way a hiking trail look, as well as the castle itself, seen from all angles:





Once more, for Romania Dracula proofs to be the most powerful brand so far.

Bran Castle - the myth of Dracula's Castle

I just found this short presentation of Bran Castle, together with it's history as well as (lack of) connections with Dracula or the Bram Stoker's novel. I don't agree at all with the introduction saying "this is one of the very few tourists attractions in Transylvania". No shit ! Transylvania has an unbelievably rich medieval history, with fortified citadels in almost each village (some of them being really well preserved, a gorgeous natural landscape (and I'm not thinking only about Făgăraş Mountains - also called "The Transylvanian Alps" but also to sub-Carpathian hills, to Apuseni (the western mountains and), to medieval towns like Sighişoara or Sibiu. Is true that Bran Castle is maybe the most famous of the attractions, but all are interesting attractions and tourists do go there every year.

I'll still present the movie 'cause some the information about the castle is useful:



Other posts about Dracula Castle

Later edit: two mistakes in only two seconds, that's a good candidate for a record: The sequence at 1:36 - 1:42 is shot in Bucegi Mountains.
If you look closely, the movie says "Transylvania, 1746", but they are riding the horses on the Bucegi Plateau, (at about 2000 m.a.s.l) towards south or south-east, probably somewhere above Valea Coştilei (Coştila Valley). So that's in Wallachia. (OK, close to Transylvania, but still Wallachia).
More than that, even more funny is that you can see the Caraiman Cross at 1:34 - 1:35. However the Cross was erected in 1926-1928 to honor and celebrate the memory of soldiers that died in WW 1. So ..."only" 180 years later than "1746". And no Transylvania :)

Dracula Documentary - Voyager

I know this site is in english and I should write and put documentaries in english, but Voyager is one of the best (if not the best) science TV shows in Italy. Also, some readers might know/understand italian, so today I propose this documentary:



Basically, it presents the Dracula of the literature, "born" in 1897 when Bram Stoker's novel was published. Stoker mentioned that the book's idea come after a small disturb generated by a crabs/seafruit salad. But we know that he studied books and maps in British Museum, looking for legends and traditions about the vampires. Seems like his interest in vampires started when he found out about the Wallachian ruler Vlad III (Vlad Dracula). The presentation of Vlad III (well, here I disagree with the expression Vlad Tepes III while Vlad III has been given the names Tepes and Dracula. So there was no Vlad Tepes I or Vlad Tepes II ) starts at min. 2:54, with the presentation of Sighişoara, were Vlad was born in 1931.
Life of Vlad Dracula is then placed in the historic context, all presented with maps of the XV-th century Europe. Seizing of the Wallachian throne is than presented.

Then Bran castle is presented as Dracula Castle, with mention that he used to impale people in front of the castle. In my research I never found any proof that Dracula would've spent longer time in Bran. As we know today, his princely residence was at Târgovişte and then in Bucharest, never at Bran.

Bran Castle

Here is a video of two ladies that went to Romania and visited Dracula-related places: Bran Castle, Poienari Castle, etc.

Bran Castle how it looks today

Here is amateur production , a clip with images from Bran Castle, presented as Dracula Castle. But we do know that Vlad III had few connections with the border castle of Bran:

Bran Castle

Yet another video about the Bran Castle, sometimes referred to as Dracula's Castle. Is just an one minute long slideshow with images from Bran Castle, but it deserves the time, mainly for the beauty of the images.

Bran Castle

Bran Castle is presented in this clip as Dracula Castle, although it has little to do with Vlad III Dracula. The video is a compilation of pictures (taken in June 2008) that presents all parts of the castle : stairs, halls, secret passages.

Bran Castle, Romania

The famous Bran Castle, better know as Dracula's Castle, even if it's connections with Vlad Dracula were scarce, is presented here in a very nice slide show, with medieval music.

The castle has been built in 1377 - 1378, due to an act of Louis of Anjou, conferring the inhabitants of Braşov "the right to erect in Bran a stone fortress with them own effort and money". Placed on a hill that overlooks the old commercial route between Braşov and Câmpulung, the castle was for long used as a custom. Today the castle and it's courtyard shelters the history and medieval museum and the ethnography museum.

Crazy guys at Dracula's Castle

Here is a short clip with a beautiful Ferrari, two crazy guys and...Bran Castle. They present Bran as Dracula's Castle, but we know it had few connections with Vlad III Dracula:

Dracula Castle vs. Bran Castle

I found this video clip about Bran Castle on the Internet. Let's try to analyze it carefully and see where it's true and what are the mistakes, if there are any.



First, it begins with Beethoven's 9th symphony, I like it. Now let's go to the subject:
- "Bran Castle is often named Dracula's Castle" - true. Romania proudly presents Bran as Dracula's Castle but there are other places more closely connected with the history of Vlad III Dracula.

- "First attestation in 1377" - seems to be true, see my other post here about how Bran Castle looked like in the middle ages

- "built on a rock" - indeed, the Castle is erected on a rock between the mountains.

- "Vlad Tepes protected his people from invaders and fight for justice". Well, he indeed he protected Wallachia and he did it very well. And declaratively fought for justice; but what kind of justice is that when he killed innocent kids after killing them parents, just to avoid revenge ?

- Vlad III was well known for the punishment he adopted: the impalement. True. This was not the only method, but maybe his favorite. And the psichological impact over the people is very very powerfull. In fact in romanian ŢEAPA means pale and Ţepeş means the impaler.

- Almost any crime from lying and stealing to killing could be punished by imaplement. TRUE. and any potential political rival could be punished the same.

- Dracula used various methods of torture, including cutting the limbs, blinding, strangulation...burning, cutting the nose, etc - true. But there is another reason beneath these tortures: Physical integrity was a must for acceding to the Wallachian throne, therefore some of the political rivals were being mutilated just to became unable to seize the throne anymore (during the history we met some exceptions from this rule however).

- Death by impalement was slow and painfull - true. Sometime I might post another...well...post, only about this. Vital organs where not affected directly so it could last for days and days. Dying usually happened by thirsty.

- Vlad Tepes was killed by Laiota Basarab and died in a forest near Bucharest - not entirely true: we don't know who killed Vlad , there are three possible reasons for his death. Indeed, he died somehere near Bucharest.

- In this forest there is a lake called "witches". Here is always foggy and thunder and lightning hits forest frequently. Animals never touch the water and people talk about a lot of strange things that happened in past times. Officialy there is no lake with this name, at least as far as I know. About the fog, thunders and the rest, this is still to be proved.

- We need a new leader for our people to fight for justice- That's absolutely TRUE.

The last two minutes are really beautiful and I prefer not to ruin them with my commets.
Overall the video is really nice and I have to thank the author for posting it.

Dracula's Castle in books

I have recently been in UK. While browsing Patricia Schultz's book "1,000 Places to See Before You Die: A Traveler's Life List" in Waterstone's I stopped at the pages about Romania. Few pages, of which I was mainly interested if she mentions any connection with Dracula. Of course, "Count Dracula's Castle in Romania" was presented as being Bran Castle. As mentioned before, Vlad III Dracula was not a count, but a Wallachia’s ruler.
Also, he has few connections with Bran Castle, seems like he only staid there for a few nights, so this can hardly be considered as Dracula's Castle.

I was really disappointed. A book that seems very serious, with lots of references all over the Internet, is not documented. the places shown are really interesting, mainly the Italian points, but I would like to see some serious info , not just the tourist buzz-places.

Anyway, I'm happy to find out that Dracula related places are among the 1000 most interesting places in the world.

Count Dracula - The Truth

In fact the documentary is more about the legend of Dracula - the ruler of Wallachia than about "Count Dracula" - Bram Stoker's character:

We get presented Bran Castle - considered by the majority of tourists as "Dracula Castle". However it has only few connections with our Vlad III - Dracula. Please take a look at this fantastic documentary to see what Bran Castle looked like in the middle-ages.
The movie continues with the affirmation that "Bram Stoker never visited Transylvania". We are not sure about this. He might have visited it, however. Sighisoara is presented, with the house where Vlad Dracula is supposed to be born.
And of course, Poienari, build by the noblemen, as well as Targoviste.

The second part of the documentary is dedicated to the events in 1989, with the fall of Ceausescu and of the so-called communist regime.

History of Dracula

From the History Channel, the second episode of "The Lost World of Dracula":

It starts with the presentation of Bran Castle, where Vlad Dracula stopped by in 1415. The castle has been modernized by the Romanian Royal Family (remember, Bran Castle belonged to the royal family in the first half of the XX-th century), so its interior is very different from what it was in middle-ages. But, by using floor plans of the castle the experts pieced together how it looked 500 years ago.

Here is a simulated image of Bran Castle, obtained by high class computer simulation. Compare it with a picture of the nowadays Bean Castle and you'll be amazed of how different it is. It was not the gothic castle that we see today, but a strong, secured border castle. Placed of the Transylvanian border with Wallachia, the castle occupies a strategic place. However, building the castle was a huge undertaking. The territory was not allowing easy construction and the first difficulty was getting the stuff on the place.
What few people know is that Dracula, in order to build-up his dream (a strong, independent country of Wallachia) , he had started one of the most ambitious building programs in his small country.

A team of experts explore Vlad's construction projects. After seizing the throne of the princedom of Wallachia, in 1456 , he began an extensive building project, trying to impose order in an unruly land.

Vlad III set his capital city in Târgovişte. Is the place where most of Dracula's atrocities took place. in the XV-th century the rule was pretty very simple in politics: kill or be killed . Vlad's first thought was getting rid of the boyars, that were representing the power in the country, changing the ruling prince upon them wish. The princely court in Târgovişte is strengthened, he build something more imposing than every building erected before. The whole complex was surrounded by walls of 5 feet thick. The construction was made up of cellars. The arches, typical for the byzantine architectural style of building, were constructed using a timber framework and helped creating huge volumes. Once Târgovişte was transformed in a highly secured head-quarter, Dracula had begun exterminating his enemy boyars.


The documentary is to be watched more that once:



See also:

• Sky News documentary about Vlad Dracula and Bran Castle
• History of Dracula on Discovery Channel

Bran Castle - Transylvania

Here is a documentary made by Sky News about Vlad Dracula (Vlad Tepes).
It starts with the presentation of Bran Castle, as well as the surrounding area. The very first image (second 8) is a view from Bran Castle over the hills around, the road going to Bran and Moieciu villages. They don's say this in the documentary but looking attentively one could notice a small stone building on the right side of the road, just between the road and the forest. There is a chapel where the heart of Queen Mary (that owned Bran castle) is burried, for a while (there is a similar chapel in Balcic, Bulgaria, where the queen lived).
The documentary explains that the castle is not what one could expect: vampires, ghosts, etc. It is just a normal XIII-th century castle. Interview with villagers from the area are interesting. They consider it a great ruler, and it is still known in Romania as a courageous and intelligent principle.
Also images from Poienari Castle are presented, as well as how Vlad escaped Turks, but his wife threw herself off the top (I found no proofs to sustain this).

Real Count Dracula - Romania

Here, at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TbEitVbyF0 is a short Documentary I found about Vlad the Impaler (Vlad Dracula). Short History and origins of Dracula are presented as well as places where he lived: Braşov city, main city in Transylvania, where Vlad lived before taking the throne of Wallachia. Then it continues presenting Bran Castle, near Braşov presented to tourists as Dracula's Castle. The rulers in that parts where controlling trade, as well as territory. While they present Bran Castle as the Transylvanian Castle closest to Bucharest, I'd say Râşnov Castle, also in Transylvania is closer, at least for driving. While they say Bram Stoker, the novelist that made Dracula so famous, never visited Transylvania, there are good probabilities he did (proofs can be brought in order to sustain this).
Then we enjoy images from Sighişoara, birth place of Vlad the Impaler. Also the reporter went to Poienari Castle that can be considered Dracula's Castle, as well as to Pasul Tihuta, to visit hotel Castle Dracula.

I'd like to mention that Vlad Dracula was NOT "a minor Count in a different part of Transylvania " as the guy who posted the video states, but be was the ruler of Wallachia, in three times during the XV-th century. And he was all but "minor".

Dracula's Castle

Dracula's Castle as Bran Castle is known is for sale! With an estimated price of 140 m. Euro, the medieval castle is the second most expensive property worldwide, according to a recent top made by "Forbes".
The castle lies 30 km away from Brasov City, South-Eastern Transylvania, in the heart of Romania.
The first place in the list is occupied by a property in Beverly Hills that belonged to William Randolph Hearst. Forbes notes that the castle is being sold by Baytree Capital, in the name of Dominic de Habsburg, son of princess Ileana of Romania, that received the castle back from the Romanian government.

However, in September, the Chamber of Deputies accepted the report of a commission that established the given-back of the Bran Castle has not been done to the right persons (there is an argue about who has the rights to receive the castle), therefore all papers being declared non-valid. Lower of the House of Habsburg, Corin Trandafir considers the decision of the deputies a political one and intends to ask for compensation of 150 m. euro.

In Transylvania, on the tracks of Dracula

Well, I found this very nice documentary about Transylvania made by Kogaion Film and a romanian director, Pascal Ilie Virgil. Bran Castle is presented as well as his lack of connections with Stoker's story. Than we focus our attention on the town of Bistriţa, in the North.
One can also admire images from Fagaras Castle, (seconds 50 - 65), Sighişoara (Vlad Dracula's birth place), Braşov City (Dracula lived here between his first and his second reign) with the old council square and the Black Church.
Also images from the place of Poienari Castle - the Real Dracula Castle.