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 Jonathan Harker, the character of Bram Stocker's
Dracula, the famous novel about the vampire, first saw Dracula’s castle at
night. He described in quite romantically: «We were in the yard of the vast and
destroyed castle with gloomy high windows, and the broken toothed walls
stretched in the zigzag line in the moonlight… And the yard seemed big in the
darkness». And such places have to be full of vampires. When Mr. Harker examined
the place more thoroughly, he proved his preliminary opinion that the castle is
the vampire place to gather since: «… suites are located in the southern part
of the castle, while the windows of that room look to the west and south. A vast
abyss lies from both sides. The castle was built on the edge of the huge cliff
and it is completely inaccessible from those sides. There is a big valley and behind
it the toothed cliffs elevated located one byanother; all of them are covered
with mountain flowers and blackthorn the roots of which catch on the splits and
rock ruins».
Once you are
lucky enough to visit the Brân Castle which is now in Romania,
in the small and nice place in 30
km from Brasov, on the
border of Muntenia and Transylvania, then you
will find that Bram Stocker never lied. He depicted the castle to every fin
detail which was known as Dracula’s Castle.
The true Prince
Dracula (by the way, he was a Prince not the count, Bram Stocker slightly «lowered
» the vampire in rank) visited the Brân Castle only during the trips and he
also liked to hunt in the neighborhood. However, this is the castle owned by
the Count Dracula, the character of the novel about the first vampire in the
literature of the world. And according to the plot of the novel the Brân Castle
is the patrimony of the Count Dracula and he is known in this role.
As for the Poenari Castle in Tirgoviste, it is the castle
of the real Dracula, Prince Dracula, and Lord of Wallachia. Honestly speaking, that
castle was more appropriate for the character by Bram Stocker. First, Tirgoviste
was the capital of Wallachia and the residence
of the Master. Second, the history of the castle erection was full of blood
which was enough for the whole family of vampires to feed.
By the legend,
the Prince Vlad seized the pilgrims who came to the capital of Wallachia to Easter with the purpose to complete the
construction work commenced by his grandfather. The Prince was believed to
threaten that nobody would return home until the work was done. By the moment when
the last stone was set into the building, most pilgrims died of the excessive
toil.
The Poenari Castle is tied with the romantic history
about the wife to the Prince Dracula. In the year 1462 the durable fortress
fell which was designed as inaccessible by the opinion of the Prince. It withstood
a long-time siege and some stories tell that the Turkish people managed to take
the fortress not for the soldiery art but due to the betrayer inside the castle.
Though, the saddest fact is that the Turkish attacked the fortress and ruined
the castle partially. The Prince Dracula managed to escape from the besieged
fortress with some of his faithful people. Though, his wife failed to escape.
She did not want to be attacked and conquered by the winners and the proud and
strong-willed wife to the Lord of Wallachia dropped from the fortress wall.
They say that
the severe Prince Vlad was shocked with the death of his wife and this episode is
still exploited in various movies and novels, especially when there is
intention to present a vampire with human emotions and feelings. And Prince Vlad
again and again cries and sobs by the body of his beloved in movies and books
in the Throne Room in PoenariCastle.
So, which
castle belongs to Dracula? Or he is the lord to both of them? Actually, one of
them is the property of the literature character, while the other one is the
real and authentic residence of the Lord of Wallachia, the Castle of Prince Dracula.
Strictly
speaking, those who is about to go on excursion to Dracula’s place are worth
visiting both castles. The other place to visit is the Dracula’s house in Sighisoara,
the place where the legendary Prince Dracula was born, the Son to Dragon, Vlad
Tepesh, true enemy to the Turkish, extirpator of the crime, fighter for freedom
of Wallachia. And still, he is the vampire who
sleeps in his property ruins in the daytime and hunts for victims at nights.
By the way,
Vlad Tepesh was called Dracula not for his bloodthirsty. His father, Prince Vlad
II, was the member to the Dragon Order and who intended to conquer and evangelize
the Muslims. In his membership in the Order Vlad II was called Dracul, and his
son, Vlad III, had his nickname thanks to his father. Dracula stands for the son
of dragon while the nick Tepesh, the Impaler, was given for his personal
merits.
Besides,
Vlad Dracula is said to be still hunting for fresh blood and his tombs, several
of them, are considered to be cenotaph and they are regularly filled up with
stones, as the ancient way to stop the vampire from killing humans.
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