Bran Castle (Romania)

Bran Castle

Bran Castle has earned its reputation as one of the most famous monuments of medieval architecture, known to tourists across the world as “Dracula’s Castle.”

Although Romania is full of old architecture and history, Bran Castle is arguably one of the most well known. Its claim to fame is the association with the infamous Count Dracula, the main character of Bram Stoker’s novel 19th century novel “Dracula.”

With its 17 rooms, Bran Castle is also one of the most expensive properties in the country, with a real estate value of around $140 million US.

It was built in 1212 by an association of merchants from nearby Brasov, where its main task was originally to protect shipments that passed through the Rucar-Bran gorge that traverses the Carpathian Mountains.

In 1920, the City of Brasov donated the castle to Queen Maria of Romania, as a sign of gratitude for her contribution to the country; she restored it and left the inheritance to her daughter, Princess Ileana.

In 1948, however, the royal family was expelled by Soviet troops, supported by the pro-Soviet Romanian government at the time. It then became property of the government, and was opened for the public in 1956, with one of its sections transformed into a museum of medieval art.

Years of official negligence then led the Castle to near ruin, so between 1987 and 1993 it was put through a massive restoration project.

After the Romanian Revolution in 1989, the communist regime was abolished, and the Habsburg family—Bran Castle’s former owners—started legal proceedings to regain their asset. Years of painstaking efforts and a long legal battles later, Dominic of Habsburg, the grandson of Queen Maria, and Princess Ileana’s son, got the Castle back, almost six decades after it was confiscated from the family. They plan to transform it into a high-quality museum open to the public.

The Bran Castle became famous after Bram Stoker wrote his famous novel “Dracula,” in which the main character, Count Dracula is also known as “the Vampire of Transylvania.” The truth is that the character in Stoker’s novel never existed, neither in Romanian history or folklore.

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