The Bran Castle is on of the most important tourist objectives of Romania and Brasov, more specific. According to the historians the Bran fortress was build between 1377 and 1378. Ludovic de Anjou let the people from Brasov build a stone fortress using their own money and work force.
The Castle was given to Queen Mary of Romania, as a symbol of respect for her contribution to the Reunion on the 1st of December 1918, by the Brasov Community in 1920. After the royal family departure from the country in 1948, the Bran Castle was under the Romanian State.
Presently, according to an evaluation its value rises to 25 million dollars, but the historical value and the association with the Dracula Character cannot be measured. The Castle was retro ceded not to the descendents of Dracula, but to the nephews of Queen Mary.
The actual owner, Dominic de Habsburg is the son of Archduke Anton of Austria and Princess Ileana of Romania, nephew of King Ferdinand and Queen Mary of Romania. In the retrocede contract it is stated that the Bran Museum remains open to the public for 3 years and the Romanian state has the right to be the first taken into consideration when selling.
I visited Sighisoara (the actual birthplace of vlad
tepes (vlad the Impailler – dracula).
we went on to castle bran (billed as “dracula’s castle) only to be disappointed to discover that vlad hadf never inhabited the castle, nor was there any provable association with it and him.
the castle is beautiful and well worth a visit, but don’t expect to see anything about dracula, accept in the gauntlet of souvenir vendors in the square leadint to the gate.
by the way, if you are physically handicapped, but ambulatory, you do NOT have to pay an entrance fee, but you will have a real workout on the steep ascent to, and numerous narrow staircases within, the castle.
sighisoara is much more a dracula (vlad tepes) fan’s destination and the city at the base of the citadel is adorable!