Beautiful Bran!

Bran is about an hour’s drive (by bus) from Brasov’s “Autogarooch”, and is nestled in the side of a mountain, where it served as an outpost against Turkish (Ottoman) invasion for hundreds of years. Originally built by the people of the Brasov region for Mircea I “the Elder” (one of Vlad Tepes’s immediate forbearers), Bran stands sentinel still today in excellent condition, and welcomes large numbers of tourists each day who come either to see it for what it is, or because of its affiliation with the Dracula legend. The small town of Bran itself (which functions as a ski resort in the winter, apparently) is laden with small shops that sell everything from cheap vampire trinkets and rubber fangs to t-shirts that say things like “love Transylvania, kiss a vampire” on them.

On the walkway up to the castle, there are a number of pretty little side gardens and diversions, including this little flower garden, and this nifty little creek that (I think) probably ran (or runs) to a cistern somewhere. The grounds are also laden with older artifacts from hundreds of years ago, including large, carved crosses such as this with inscriptions on them (I believe that the language is called “Old Slavonic”).

Once inside the castle, several things stand out immediately. First, the entire place seems to be some giant shrine to a Romanian Princess/Queen named Maria who lived and reigned a hundred or so years ago. There are all manner of hyper-devoted items around the castle that attest to her presence (i.e. “this is the very armchair that Queen Maria’s coat sleeve brushed against when she visited the castle, and is immaculately preserved in the condition in which it was at that historical event in 1916!” – just kidding, but only just shy of reality) and frequent visits. Second, most of what biologists tell us must be true about people getting “taller and bigger” over the last hundred years or so because every doorway, every stairwell, every…well… everything seems built for people much tinier than I am. Third, while the castle no longer maintains any sort of military application, you can definitely see how it once did. Glassed in parapets from which archers or crossbowmen would have had easy marks on approaching invaders are evident throughout the ramparts, and the castle itself is an intricate labyrinth of “sectioned” quarters that could be shut down, barred and defended (or defended against) in the event of invasion. It also overlooks what would have been (and still is, incidentally – see picture) the mainly traveled artery through the region, thus allowing Bran Castle to stand guard over anyone who was attempting to pass through. Finally, everything in the castle is, of course, extremely old, and, compared to the immense castles in England (such as Warwickshire Castle), very small. It has electricity now, but still no central heat or air, so when Dracula remarks to Harker that these castles are “old and drafty”, he’s really not kidding. Particularly at this height, the wind whistled through the hallways and crevices like a specter, leaving a cool chill on all who were exploring it. Additional pictures from within or of the castle below as well.

A view to Bran from the neighboring mountainside:

A view to the inner courtyard from a balcony:

Interior bedroom with massive 4-poster bed. Heavily inlaid and carved with various scenes:

Dining Room. It was considerably smaller than i thought it would be:

The castle well: