Archaeologists radar-illuminated the foundation of the famous Corvin castle in Transylvania, where Vlad the Impaler was imprisoned, and found traces of several rooms, the existence of which historians did not know before. This is reported by the online edition Live Science.
Count Dracula, the most famous vampire in world literature, owes its existence to the Transylvanian prince Vlad the Impaler, who ruled Wallachia in the second half of the 15th century. He became famous for his incredible cruelty, even for that time, a tendency to torture and mass executions of unwanted boyars and captured enemies.
Such traits of his character, as many chroniclers and modern historians believed, led to the fact that he quickly acquired two nicknames - Dracula, which means "devil" in one of the dialects of the Romanian-Moldavian language, and Tepes - "Kol".
Corvin Castle, the alleged place of imprisonment of Vlad Tepes.
Almost from the first days of his independent political and military career, Vladislav was at enmity with the Hungarian governor Janos Hunyadi, on whose orders Dracula's father and elder brother were executed.
The defeat of the troops of Hungary and the Slavic princes in the battle on the Kosovo field in 1448 allowed Tepes to regain the throne, but literally six months later, Hunyadi and his allies scattered Dracula's troops and returned to the throne Vladislav II, the killer of his father.
The future "impactor" fled to Moldova, where he was captured and was transported, according to some Wallachian chronicles of that time, to the Hunyadi family nest, the Corvin castle, built in the vicinity of the modern Romanian city of Hunedoara. He spent several years in captivity, managed to outlive Hunyadi himself, who died of the plague in 1456, and regain his lands and power.
Many historians do not believe in such theories, since it is highly unlikely that Dracula could have gone to Moldavia in 1448, knowing that Hunyadi's allies rule there. Despite this, the Corvin Castle still attracts the attention of both scientists and fans of vampire stories, who are equally actively trying to find traces of the real Dracula here.
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Morris and her colleagues conducted the first serious search for various "secret torture rooms" and other lost premises, enlightening the foundation of the family nest of the Hungarian governors using special radars. Their mode of operation was chosen in such a way that the radio waves generated by them could penetrate to a depth of several tens of meters.
As noted by Morris, her team was not able to find such premises, but they found traces of a construction much later, playing some kind of administrative functions. In addition, they found special stone "pillars" supporting the castle in areas where its foundation extends beyond the solid rocks of the rock on which it is built.
This information, she said, will help restorers understand how to strengthen the walls of the castle, and archaeologists will be able to use it to study in which historical epochs he experienced various rebuilds and extensions.
