Bran
Castle
After the
publication of Bram Stoker’s hit novel Dracula
in 1897, it left a massive impact on our culture, and still continues to more
than 100 years after being written. For people who love anything related to
Dracula, or traveling/tourism, there’s some good news. In Transylvania, there
is a castle (top-view of castle pictured above) “that fits Bram Stoker’s
description of Dracula’s Castle” (1). Many people around the world, and fans of
the classic novel have now coined this castle as Dracula’s castle. However, the
castle has a rich history that dates back far before Bram Stoker’s classic.
Aside from
John Polidori’s monster from The Vampyre,
Bram Stoker had another person influence the monster Dracula. That person would
be real life prince, Vlad Tepes (pictured to the left), also known as Vlad the
Impaler who actually spent some time in Bran Castle as a prisoner. It is the
story of Vlad the Impaler who viciously murdered his enemies, and the legacy of
Dracula that bring tourists from around the world to visit the historical site.
It is also said that the castle is rented out to tourists for “Halloween
parties, complete with bloody vodka shots” (2).
The castle did not become a tourist site until 1993, after
restorations were finished that started in 1987. It is now open to the public
as a museum. The castle is also host to many fun events for fans of Dracula,
and even has restaurants inside as well. For upcoming events, and records of
past events, check out http://www.bran-castle.com/events-archive.html
Events that have been held here include live concerts, and
even shows that are adaptations of the Dracula story. One event that was held
recently was Dracula – The Kiss in the
Black Church. Events are temporarily on hold due to the coronavirus
outbreak.
In 2009 the castle “fully re-entered the possession of its
legal heirs, Archduke Dominic, Archduchess Maria Magdalena and Archduchess
Elisabeth” (3). However, of course this has not stopped Bran Castle from being
a major tourist attraction. Over the years this has become an astounding museum
for fans of literature. This just shows what a great impact this novel still
has on world culture today, with people from countries all over the world
flocking in to check it out. This is also a museum for lovers of history as it has
a lot of historical information from before Dracula was even written. There is
a really neat video tour of the castle that can be viewed at http://www.bran-castle.com/video-tour.html
Works Cited
Alipio, Amy. (2018, September 28). Inside the fortress known as Dracula's Castle. National Geographic.
Retrieved from
Lallanilla, Marc. (2013, October 31). Vlad the Impaler: the real Dracula was absolutely vicious. NBC.
Retrieved from
Historical timeline. Bran-Castle.
Retrieved from
It's crazy to think that there is a real life Dracula castle. Just by looking at the picture you included, it's a pretty close match to the one Stoker depicts. There's a lot of windows so Harker definitely would have had a hard time getting out of there! And just picturing Dracula crawling down the side of one of those walls, I'd rather not think of that! Great blog!
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