In Romania, Bran Castle, known as the castle of Count Dracula, was put up for sale. The castle is located 30 kilometers from Brasov, between the Bucegi and Piatra Kraului mountains. It is an important national monument and tourist destination that attracts many myth and legend lovers every year.
The castle was built in 1226 as a defensive fortress. However, he gained his fame in 1898, when the Irish writer Bram Stoker wrote the novel "Dracula". In the book, Count Dracula lived in a castle near the Borgo Gorge in Transylvania. Bran Castle is also located near the gorge, in addition, the prototype of the book vampire, Count Vlad Tepes (Dracula), spent the night there. Although the building did not belong to Tepes, the locals forever associated the castle with Dracula's name.
Unthinkable cruelty
Vlad III received the nickname Tepes (Impaler) for his particular cruelty in dealing with enemies and foes - he impaled the guilty. He got the nickname Dracula (translated as "dragon") from his father Vlad II, who was a member of the elite knightly order of the Dragon. Vlad III ruled medieval Wallachia (a region of Romania) and was famous for his unthinkable cruelty. He could kill innocents for fun and take baths in their blood.
According to some reports, Count Tepes was a warlock and made a deal with the dark forces. After his death, rumors spread that Count Dracula had turned into a vampire. According to one version, this happened because his body disappeared from the grave. On the other - because many victims of the count cursed him before dying. The image and name of the count impressed Bram Stoker so much that he made Dracula the main character of his novel, immortalizing his name, and at the same time Bran Castle.
Bran Castle is shrouded in many secrets. It is fraught with a large number of secret passages and underground labyrinths through which you can enter the castle unnoticed or escape from there. There is a well in the courtyard of the castle. According to one of the legends, once a year, exactly at midnight on September 31st, the souls of Dracula's victims fly out from there. However, there are only 30 days in September.
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Well at Bran Castle.
Photo: Jaysmark / flickr.com / CC BY 2.0
There is also a room with a bed on which, according to legends, Dracula drank the blood of his victims. However, Vlad Tepes was in the castle, according to various sources, only once or several times. Therefore, the reality of this myth is highly questionable. However, there is no doubt that the legend attracts tourists.
Where the grave of Vlad Tepes is located, and whether it exists at all, no one still knows. However, many lovers of mysticism believe that the remains of the tyrant rest in this castle. Locals say that his ghost still wanders the local forests. According to other versions, the remains of Dracula are located on an island located in the center of Lake Snagov, near Bucharest.
A monastery on the island where, according to legend, Dracula is buried.
Photo: fusion-of-horizons / flickr.com / CC BY 2.0
According to legend, the body of the count, beheaded by the Turks during the battle, was buried in front of the very altar of the monastery, located on the island. However, these data are not confirmed by anything. Excavations have shown no human remains or a coffin there. There were rumors that Dracula's body disappeared after death, and this even more convinced legendary fans of the mystical nature of this story.
Be that as it may, Bran Castle and its surroundings are overgrown with many legends and are a favorite destination for numerous tourists. About a million people visit Bran every year. At one time, Kevin Costner, Nicolas Cage and other famous artists visited it. Unfortunately, one cannot look into the depths of centuries and find out the whole truth about the life and death of a bloody tyrant. People can only guess - Romanian myths or historical truth gave the castle the name of the most famous vampire.