Bran Castle, Castle in Bran, Romania
Bran Castle is a Gothic stone fortress on a wooded hill at the Bran Gorge, 25 km southwest of Brașov, on the Transylvanian side of the old border with Wallachia. Its pale grey and tan walls, patched with exposed reddish brick, carry a round tower with a tall conical roof of orange-red tiles and a square tower with a steep pitched roof, a small gabled lantern and crenellated battlements. Lower wings with red-tiled roofs extend to the right, and arched and rectangular windows pierce the walls.
The Teutonic Order built the wooden castle of Dietrichstein around 1212, destroyed by royal troops about 1225. Louis I of Hungary granted the Saxons of Kronstadt the right to erect the stone castle in 1377. It served as a customs post and defensive point, then became Queen Marie's summer residence after 1920, was seized by the communist regime in 1948, and was returned to Princess Ileana's heirs in 2006.
Queen Marie, who received the castle after 1920, filled the rooms with art and furniture she collected, and the museum displays these pieces today. The Czech architect Karel Zdeněk Líman renovated the building in the 1920s, adding staircases, electricity, running water and telephone lines while keeping the fortress exterior. Outside, the castle markets itself as Dracula's Castle, though the owners reject the vampire myth.
The museum welcomes visitors daily, with longer hours in summer than in winter, and tickets can be purchased online in advance. The structure sits on steep terrain, so wear comfortable shoes and expect stairs throughout your visit.
The castle's owners reject the Dracula myth and forbid running it as a theme park around the character, which some visitors feel reduces its appeal. In 2007 Archduke Dominic of Habsburg put the castle up for sale at 50 million euros; Russian oil billionaire Roman Abramovich accepted the offer, but the deal was never closed and the property stayed with the Habsburgs.
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