Search results
Browse 547 authentic dracula castle stock photos, high-res images, and pictures, or explore additional count dracula castle or dracula castle romania stock images to find the right photo at the right size and resolution for your project.
Sep 5, 2023 · September 5, 2023 by Calin. Bran Castle, also known as Dracula’s Castle, is probably Romania’s most popular castle and one of the most visited attractions in the country. Today, I am going to talk about this amazing place and share everything you need to know, including a very surprising truth.
- Overview
- RELATED: 25 Castles You Can Sleep In
Bram Stoker never traveled to Transylvania, much less Bran Castle.
Dracula slept here. Or maybe not.
Bran Castle perches dramatically on a hill in Transylvania, its burnt-orange-tiled turrets and steeples rising above a crown of trees in Romania’s Carpathian Mountains. Depending on what account you read, Vlad Tepes—aka Vlad the Impaler—may have spent a night or two in this 14th-century fortress as a prisoner, or he may have attacked it once.
Irish novelist Bram Stoker loosely based his fictional toothy vampire on this historical 15th-century prince, whose fondness for skewering enemies on stakes as a public warning earned him his nickname. Now visitors from all over the world descend on rural Transylvania for a chance to experience some of the eerie thrill of Stoker’s novel. Tour companies often book Bran Castle for Halloween parties, complete with “bloody” vodka shots and a DJ.
Yet, Stoker never visited Transylvania, much less Bran Castle. So how did it come to be known as Dracula’s?
“In the 1960s, when Romania was ruled by a communist government, its tourism czars decided it could be advantageous to market a place associated with Vlad Tepes," says local historian Nicolae Pepene. “They looked around at all of the available castles and decided that this castle at Bran, which guarded the one mountain pass running between Transylvania and Walachia, looked sufficiently Gothic.” (Bonus point: Poiana Brașov, a popular ski resort, is only eight miles away.)
1 / 25
1 / 25
Start with an 11th-century medieval fortress nestled between the French regions of Bordeaux and Cognac. Add 22 rooms with silky walls, rich berry-hued drapery, white marble baths, and cornice canopies. Then decide between veal with caramelized chanterelles or Ballotine quail with reduced grape and shallot chutney from Chateau de Mirambeau's Michelin-starred restaurant.
Start with an 11th-century medieval fortress nestled between the French regions of Bordeaux and Cognac. Add 22 rooms with silky walls, rich berry-hued drapery, white marble baths, and cornice canopies. Then decide between veal with caramelized chanterelles or Ballotine quail with reduced grape and shallot chutney from Chateau de Mirambeau's Michelin-starred restaurant.
Photograph by Bjorn Grotting, Alamy Stock Photo
On a moonless fall night, the imposing castle may look like a lair for the Prince of Darkness, but in the daylight the place actually seems more fit for a queen. Which it once was. Queen Marie of Romania called the 57-room chateâu home from 1920 to 1938. Behind thick defensive walls, the castle reveals a maze of cozy rooms, nooks, and crannies; a balconied inner courtyard with a well; and even a secret stairway to a wood-paneled library.
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.
- Medieval
- Archduke Dominic of Austria-Tuscany
- Romania
Browse 590+ draculas castle stock photos and images available, or search for transylvania or dark castle to find more great stock photos and pictures. transylvania. dark castle. Sort by: Most popular. Bran Castle, Transylvania - Most famous destination of Romania. Bran Castle, Romania - August 2021.
509 Dracula Castle Premium High Res Photos. Browse 509 dracula castle stock photos and images available or search for count dracula castle or dracula castle romania to find more great stock photos and pictures. of 9. Find Dracula Castle stock photos and editorial news pictures from Getty Images.
