Dracula: myth vs. history

Why is Transylvania known for Dracula?

Dracula, the novel, also uses some Romanian names and Transylvanian topoi as a setting, which resulted in the region being associated with the legend.

Retracing Count Dracula’s steps in Romania is foggy since you only know he lives in a castle in Transylvania, near the Borgo Pass. Only towards the end of the movie do you get more clues: Count Dracula travels back to Romania from the UK in a box, and arrives in the Galati Harbour. From here, he’s taken by a bunch of gypsies to his castle in the mountain pass.

Wait, where's Bran Castle in all this?

Tourist packages promote Bran Castle (located in Brasov County) as Dracula’s castle, hence the fame of the place.

In his novel, Stoker describes Count Dracula’s castle as  “. . . on the very edge of a terrific precipice . . . with occasionally a deep rift where there is a chasm [with] silver threads where the rivers wind in deep gorges through the forests.”

Researchers or Stoker’s supporters believed Bran Castle was the closest to embodying this description. Not to mention that it is still standing, so it can perfectly illustrate and continue the legend.

There’s no proven connection between Bran Castle and the novel. Stoker never visited Romania, but he researched several Transylvanian castles for his writing. Besides Bran, he also looked into Teleki and Brancovenesti, in Mures Country.

How many Dracula castles are there?

When the legend got intertwined with history and Vlad the Impaler came to be associated with Dracula, tourism took over and put a Dracula-related brand on most places even slightly connected to the Wallachian prince.

That’s why one might come to the conclusion that there are several Dracula castles in Romania. Let’s admit that Bran castle is the one described in the novel, but Vlad the Impaler never set foot there. His princely court was in Targoviste, at first, then at Poenari. Towards the end of his reign, he was shortly jailed in Corvin Castle and taken to Buda (Hungary) afterward.

His death was as tragic as spectacular, not falling behind his name. Betrayed by some, he was decapitated in 1476 and his head was impaled and sent to the Ottoman sultan. His burial place remains unknown to this day, but researchers believe that it might be either Snagov or Comana monasteries, near Bucharest.

Stay active while unfolding the Dracula myth

Vlad Dracul house, Sighisoara Citadell

Photo: Cezar Suceveanu, https://commons.wikimedia.org/

Terra Saxonum route takes you through Sighisoara, where it appears that Vlad Dracul (Vlad II) was born. According to reviews, you shouldn’t try to visit the house, so stick to the medieval citadel only. While in Bran, climb to the Magura Peak, a picturesque route that’ll reveal some traditional villages in the area.

Is there anything more blood-thirsty than Dracula?

Every now and then, bloody legends come to the fore as medieval ruins are included in touristic circuits. It is also the case with Báthory Castle in Șimleul Silvaniei (Sălaj), owned by a Hungarian family that reigned in Transylvania in the 14-16th centuries. It seems that two women in the family performed black magic, while one of them, known as The Blood Countess, also bathed in blood to stay young. Coincidence or not, the Báthory coat of arms depicts a dragon biting its own tail and some family members were also members of the Order of the Dragon.