Dracula’s Castle

There are few tourists in the world which have never heard about Dracula’s Castle. The legend, both frightening and mysterious brings thousands of people visiting Romania every year. It is one of the first things any foreigner will tell you if you ask what he or she knows about Romania.

Located between Bucegi Mountains and Piatra Craiului, at 30 km from Brasov, Dracula’s Castle is an important touristic attraction even though historical data shows that Vlad Tepes, the hero behind the legend, has passed only once in his travels through this area.

Dracula’s Castle was built initially as a fortress by the Teutonic Knights in 1212. Its first documentary attestation is dated in 1377 when the people from Brasov received from Ludovic d’Anjou the right to build a citadel on the place of the old fortress.

On 1 December 1920 Dracula’s Castle or Bran Castle has been donated to Queen Mary of Romania and for the next seven years entered a period of restoration with the purpose of being transformed in summer residence. After a long history and an impressive list of owners, Dracula’s Castle is today the property of Dominic de Habsburg and awaits its guests with valuable attractions among which we name only the Bram Stoker room with information about Vlad Tepes and over 10.000 bottles of Merlot Dealu Mare also known as Chateau Bran.

Placed by the prestigious magazine Forbes on the second more expensive properties in the world, Bran Castle, also known as Dracula’s Castle is estimated today at over 140 billion dollars. With a legend known all over the world and located in a beautiful place, Dracula’s Castle is not only on the list of an impressive number if tourist but the object of specially created tours.