Dracula's castle. The complete story.

 When one comes to Bran, you have to stay at Vampire camping. On our first rest day we took on the Bran Castle @ Dracula's castle.  We got to the castle nice and early to avoid the arrival of all the tourists on the bus tours of Europe.  This castle is the number 1 attraction in Romania and listed in the top 1000 things to see before you die.  It's always nice to know you've seen things that had to be seen before death.  I've got about 998 things to see now, that should take me to about 98 years of age before I depart planet earth.

 I took the above photo in the carpark of Bran Castle. 

 I came across these head figurines that were used in medieval times for ceremonies and evil rituals.  

 This religious cross was located inside the grounds of Bran Castle.

 The castle has over 50 rooms which were used by many of the royalties going back over 500 years. The furniture in the rooms are amazing.  Beautifully crafted by hand showing amazing figures representing the era the Queen ruled the region of Wallachia.

 Another photo of furniture within the castle.

 More furniture.

 More furniture.

 Inside the castle there are small tunnels taking you from one level to the next.  Very narrow and not good for someone of 6ft 4 inches.

 I liked this section of the castle.  It was a small alcove with a nice bench and small fireplace.  The castle had some great ideas to be incorporated into my shack back home.

 The above photo was taken from the balcony of the castle.

The above photo is taken from the top of the castle looking out into the valley.

 The above photo was taken from the courtyard of the castle looking up to all the levels of the castle.

Last, but not least is ME, standing in front of Bran Castle.

Now for those who know nothing about Bran Castle.  .

Dracula

Dracula – as known today – represents the result of the intersection of some real historical events, legendary, related to the reign of Vald Ţepes – Dracula, of mentions of some chroniclers of those times, aiming to put the great voivode in a bad light, amplified in the upcoming centuries by the association with the character of fiction novel "Dracula", issued in England in 1897, written by the Irish writer Bram Stocker.

The truth about Vlad Ţepes (1456-1462; 1476), prince of Ţara Românească, is known from numerous works of Romanian and foreign historians.

Convinced that only a harsh reign from the inside could install order in the country and organize successfully its defense from external dangers, Vlad Ţepes applies a domineering reign, imposing to its subjects honesty and diligence as virtues; dishonesty (theft), laziness and craftiness were harshly punished by impalement, a hard punishment, but which could be understood only related to the period he lived in, a very cruel period, which has known other punishments, equally harsh, such as burning at the stake, hanging, etc.As a result of the drastic measures of his regime, Vlad the Impaler succeeded in installing order all over the country: “alien to mercy and clemency,” as the historian A.D. Xenopol recounts, he channelled his fierce nature towards the well-being of his country, and after cleansing it from its inner evil, he overcame the degradation in which the country had indulged. Vlad’s deeds, however, triggered the hatred of many of his contemporaries. They
defamed him and accused him of bargaining with the Turks against the country’s best interest. He was imprisoned by King Matei Corvin. Over time, he was characterized as a cruel man, but a man who “devoted his fierce nature to the well-being of his country.” He was later associated with the legend of the vampire
Dracula, the protagonist of Bram Stoker’s famous novel, which Oscar Wilde described as perhaps the most beautiful novel ever written.The link between the character in Bram Stoker’s novel and the ruler Vlad the
Impaler (Dracula) was even suggested by the author himself: “…it was indeed that ruler, Dracula, who acquired his name by fighting against the Turks across the great river right at the Turkish border.” Bram Stoker believed that this was no ordinary man, because, over the course of centuries, he has been consistently regarded as not only the most skilled and the most cunning of men, but also the bravest of his country’s sons. His alert spirit and his iron will followed him to the grave and continue the battle to this day.” Here, the author established a link to the folklore of ghost stories, telling of those whose existence does not end with their own generation: “The undead (i.e. ghosts, vampires) suffer from the curse of immortality,” as Bram Stoker said. “They pass from one era to another, multiplying their victims, augmenting the evil in the world…”.

The characters in the novel “Dracula” are the product of the author’s fantasy, but the deeds of Count Dracula and his end are based on popular beliefs regarding the existence of certain forces of evil, be they vampires or ghosts. According to these superstitions, vampires are the dead who leave their graves at night and wander among the living as they sleep in order to suck their blood, their only source of sustenance. The bat, an animal that finds shelter in caves during the day and comes out at night to suck blood, is also considered to be a vampire. In Central and South America, vampire bats are a species of large bats that feed on the blood of birds and other mammals in their sleep. In Homer’s famous work, The Odyssey, the ancient poet associated the bat with the souls of the dead. In popular folklore of the Carpatho-Danubiano-Pontic area, the vampire finds its equivalent in the tales of the dead who leave their graves at night to wander among the living, attacking them during their sleep and causing them a great deal of trouble and pain, sucking their blood and stealing the milk of their cattle. 

These are not called vampires, but ghosts (“strigoi”). A ghost can even be a living being if, according to the folklorist Aurel Candrea, “all day long it attends to its own business, just like everyone else, but at night, as soon as it falls asleep, its soul leaves its body and wanders off to meet other ghosts, while its body remains in the bed, as if it were dead. The souls of these ghosts … kill children and suck their blood, steal milk from cattle and rob the fruits of the harvest.” The same author writes: “when one of these creatures, who is believed to be a ghost, dies, a red-hot roasting stick is stabbed, or impaled, into its heart so that its soul may never get out of the grave and it is no longer able to torment people at night.”
 

In Romanian mythology there are also dead ghosts, who are the spirits of the dead coming back, either belonging to those who existed as ghosts during their lifetime, or to those whose funeral arrangements were faultily conducted, or to those who went astray on their way to the world beyond or had nothing with which to pay their entrance fee. Apart from the damage they cause the living, says Sim. Fl. Marian, dead ghosts “eat their family members one by one, or eat only their heart and suck their blood.” As interpreted today, Dracula is depicted in the image of the Walachian ruler, Vlad the Impaler. His features, as portrayed in a xylography of the “German stories about Dracula Voivode,” which appeared in Nurenberg in 1488,
represent Dracula in many commercial contexts. As represented in popular culture, Vlad the Impaler is no longer regarded as a flesh-and-blood historical figure, but rather as a caricature of a vampire, as he is known to Occidental tourists, following the fantasies of Bram Stoker’s novel and its many cinematic adaptations, from 1922 until today. Thus, while the portrait of the Romanian ruler, which appears on the cover of the
German Stories’ edition, published in Bamberg in 1491, suggests the notion of justice that characterized his life, the image rendered on movie screen, laced with elements of extreme cruelty, is judged through contemporary eyes not as a typical representation of the period he lived in, but as a “Dracula” whose cruelty has nothing to do with the firm sense of justice he once represented. This fanciful and frightful image appeals to the tourist, who seeks the sensational. 

When in Romania, the tourist even associates Dracula with Bran Castle, which, due to its sublime structure and location, is wrapped in mystery. This search for the sensational leads the tourist to places haunted only by the Dracula who is a figment of the imagination. Bran Castle, one of the most valuable medieval architectural monuments in Romania, with its historic, military and economic significance, is known by
tourists across the globe as Dracula’s Castle. Most tourists, after visiting the Bran Castle, leave disappointed for not having met Dracula – the blood-sucking vampire made famous by Hollywood and associated with the figure of the Romanian ruler, Vlad the Impaler (Dracula). The reason that this meeting can never be is because Bran Castle’s visitors do not distinguish between the historic reality and the fictional one, based on the character from Bram Stoker’s novel, which is, in turn, based on popular beliefs about ghosts and
vampires alongside the legends surrounding Vlad the Impaler, particularly those that portray him as a cruel ruler. 

The interaction between the main character of the novel “Dracula” and the legend of the real ruler Vlad the Impaler (Dracula), the legendary character from Romanian history, has created a third, imaginary character called Dracula the Vampire, a personification of an evil spirit who disturbs the tranquility of human existence, torments mankind and transforms those who become his subjects into vessels of evil. This character exists only in the realm of the imagination, impossible to capture in a museum exhibit such as that of Bran Castle.
Bran Castle was nicknamed “Dracula’s Castle” three decades ago, by tourists, particularly American tourists, who came searching for the Dracula they had see in horror movies inspired by Bram Stoker’s novel. 

Upon entering Transylvania, these tourists noticed a castle which eerily resembles the castle described by the Irish author. They nicknamed it Dracula’s Castle. What is the nature of the connection between the Dracula envisioned in the tourist’s imagination, the object of the search for the vampire, and the real Bran Castle? It’s very simple. In reference to the ruler of Walachia, historical accounts mention several campaigns Vlad the Impaler undertook to punish the German merchants of Brasov who failed to abide by his commands regarding trade practices in Walachian fairs. It is only logical that the passage in these campaigns was through Bran, the closest gorge to Brasov, which connects it to Targoviste, the ruler’s residence. 

His relationships with the Bran lords were, most likely, not very cordial, as they were representatives of the Citadel of Brasov, which was hostile to Vlad the Impaler’s reign. It is difficult to know if Vlad the Impaler ruled over Bran Castle, as existing written documentation does not affirmatively attest to this. The existing
documents regarding the Bran Castle Fortress, which can still be found in archives, are mainly administrative and mostly refer to the income and expenditure of the Bran Fortress domain, only touching upon the political and military events of the time. However, it can be asserted with certainty that in the fall of 1462, after the army of the Hungarian king, Matei Corvin, caught Vlad in the vicinity of the fortress of Podul Dambovitei near Rucar, which is located approximately 25 km away from Bran, Vlad the Impaler was taken to Bran Castle and locked inside for some two months, as stated in the recent volume “Vlad The Impaler Dracula”, published by Mirador Printing House, Arad, 2002, written by Gheorghe Lazea Postelnicu. From Bran, the ruler was taken to the Visegrad Fortress and imprisoned there.

As for the vampire, known in Romanian folklore as the ghost (the word “vampire”can be encountered in the Serbian tradition), we should mention that in the villages near superstitions claiming the existence of evil spirits, called ghosts or “steregoi” (a variant of “strigoi”), are certainly prevalent. The elders of these villages recall that, until half a century ago, it was widely believed that there were certain living people – “strigoi” – who lead normal lives by day, and at night, while they were sleeping, their souls departed their bodies, haunted the village and tormented its inhabitants in their sleep. These evil spirits started their haunt at midnight and did not cease until the first rooster announced the coming of the day. Once the rooster crowed, they could no longer cause any harm.

The belief in ghosts and other evil spirits is still a component of popular mythology. It can be found in or imagined by any individual. Beyond this imaginary universe, however, which is populated by vampires and phantoms, the tourist may find in Bran a reality that will bring joy and serenity to his heart.

Keeping in mind the image of the fierce Dracula, the tourist who arrives in Bran, finding himself in the picturesque scenery of this mountainous region, will encounter shepherds guarding their grazing sheep or mowing the plentiful grass, women weaving the rich fabrics that adorn the interiors of their houses on their
looms, or prepare traditional meals (“bulz ciobanesc” ) both in their own households and in boarding houses specially prepared for those who wish to spend time at Bran from sunrise to sunset or even through the night, when Dracula the Vampire might visit them in their dreams. His power is likely to fade away, however, because of the garlic cloves the family places above the entrance door, because that is how they’ve learned from the village elders to protect their home from evil spirits.

Now you have the complete story of Dracula.  

Until tomorrow, safe riding.