Bran Castle - The Castle of Dracula

It must be understood that the only connection that the castle has with Dracula are the historical evidences that show that the castle was really under the domination of Vlad Tepes (1456-1462), called Dracula by the enemies, and that he lived here only 14 days during a winter

The first prove of the castle existence date historic since 1263.

Bran Castle is a castle in Bran, 25 kilometres (16 mi) southwest of Bra?ov. It is a national monument and landmark in Romania. The fortress is on the Transylvanian side of the historical border with Wallachia, on road DN73.

Commonly known outside Romania as Dracula's Castle (although it is one among several locations linked to the Dracula legend, including Poenari Castle and Hunyadi Castle), it is often erroneously referred to as the home of the title character in Bram Stoker's Dracula.

There is no evidence that Stoker knew anything about this castle, which has only tangential associations with Vlad the Impaler, voivode of Wallachia, the putative inspiration for Dracula. Dutch author Hans Corneel de Roos proposes as location for Castle Dracula an empty mountain top, Mount Izvorul Calimanului, 2,033 metres (6,670 ft) high, located in the Calimani Alps near the former border with Moldavia Stoker's description of Dracula's crumbling fictional castle also bears no resemblance to Bran Castle.

The castle is now a museum dedicated to displaying art and furniture collected by Queen Marie. Tourists can see the interior on their own or by a guided tour. At the bottom of the hill is a small open-air museum exhibiting traditional Romanian peasant structures (cottages, barns, water-driven machinery, etc.) from the Bran region.

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