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Franz Bauer | profile | all galleries >> Travel >> Romania >> Romanian Castles >> Castle Bran,Romania | tree view | thumbnails | slideshow | map |
Bran Castle, situated near Bran and in the immediate vicinity of Brasov, Romania, is a national monument and landmark. The fortress is situated on the border between Transylvania and Wallachia, on Highway 73. In addition to its unique architecture, the castle is famous because of persistent myths that it was once the home of Vlad the Impaler, a famous or infamous medieval warlord; however, there is no evidence that he ever lived there. According to most accounts, the Impaler spent two days in the Bran dungeon, as the area was occupied by the Ottoman Empire at the time. Because of the (disputed) connections between Vlad and the fictional character Dracula, the castle is marketed to foreign tourists as Dracula's Castle;Bran Castle was subsequently featured in multiple film adaptations of Dracula, and has informally become known as Dracula's Castle. The local economy has made use of the connection to boost tourism; a small market exists at the castle gates selling every imaginable article connected with, or depicting the portrait of, Dracula and vampires.
The castle is open to tourists, who can view the inside by themselves or as part of a guided tour. At the bottom of the hill is a small park to which examples of traditional Romanian peasant structures (cottages, barns, etc.) from across the country have been moved.(from Wikipedia Lexikon)
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