And here I am in front of one of the most famous and visited stop of
Transylvania: the notorious Bran Castle, reachable from Brasov in about
40 minutes by car. During the whole duration of my tour, except in
Bucharest, I rented a car with driver on the website www.eurocars.ro
Illuminated by the pale moonlight, the vampire’s lair rises on top of a
rocky hill … But do not delude yourself … This is not the real castle of
Count Dracula … In Bran it seems he spent only a little time and he used
this castle as a general headquarters for his incursions into Transylvania.
Vlad Tepes; real home is located in Poenari, in the Wallachia region,
where today only the ruins of its foundations remain.
In reality Bran Castle was linked to Dracula when the writer Bram Stoker
set his famous novel there. There are some parking spaces in front of the
castle entrance, after which you come across a multitude of stalls selling
many themed souvenirs.
The castle is not accessible by wheelchair due to the many, many steps
inside the structure. But at the entrance, turning immediately right, you
can visit the park from where you have a beautiful view of the manor
perched on top of a rocky promontory. I must admit that, even if only
seen externally, it is very very suggestive.
It was built in 1382 on the site of the previous citadel built in the 13th
century by the Teutonic knights to defend the strategic Passo di Bran
from the Turks. After being used as an administrative building during the
eighteenth century, in 1920 the Bran Castle was donated to Queen Maria
as a sign of thanks for her contribution to the unification of the country.
