Very Nice Travel's video: Bran Castle Dracula s Castle Transylvania Romania

Bran Castle (Dracula's Castle) is the most famous landmark in central Romania, attracting growing numbers of foreign tourists thanks to its connection with the world's most famous vampire, Count Dracula. The castle overlooks the picturesque village of Bran, which offers an open-air Ethnographic Museum consisting of old local-style village houses complete with furniture, household objects and costumes.Built on the site of a Teutonic Knights stronghold dating from 1212, Bran castle was first documented in an act issued on November 19, 1377, giving the Saxons of Brasov (known as Kronstadt in German) the right to build the citadel. Bran Castle is located on the border of Transylvania and Wallachia, the land over which Vlad the Impaler ruled in the 15th century. Also known as Vlad III Dracula, the ruler is widely believed to be the inspiration for Count Dracula due to his historic bloodlust. He liked to torture people and would impale his enemies on the battlefield to deter his other enemies. The infamous Romanian ruler was immortalized as the inspiration for Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel “Dracula,” and thanks to this link to the famous vampire, Bran Castle is popularly known in the region and beyond as “Dracula’s Castle.” But the name “Dracula”, derives from the Crusader Order of the Dragon with which Order both Vlad Tepes and his father had been associated. Vlad was part of the Order of the Dragon, founded by the King of Hungary in 1408 to bestow on nobleman fighting to defend Christianity. The order’s symbol was a dragon with the word dracul meaning dragon or the devil in Romanian at the time. Vlad’s father was also a member of the order with the name Vlad Dracul, which meant his son required a slight variation - and so he become known as Vlad Dracula. The rest of the Dracula myth derives from the legends and popular beliefs in ghosts and vampires prevalent throughout Transylvania. The castle is owned by the descendants of Queen Marie, to whom it was given 1920 as a token of appreciation for her efforts to unify Romania. After her death, Bran Castle was inherited by her daughter, Princess Ileana, who ran it as a hospital during World War II. In 1948 the castle was seized by the Communist regime, but it was returned to Dominic von Habsburg, Princess Ileana’s son, in 2006. The castle is now a museum open to tourists with several rooms filled with original furniture, objects and exhibits representative of Romania’s medieval history and, later on, royal owners. It has 57 rooms, many connected by underground passages, which house collections of furniture, weapons and armor dating from the 14th to the 19th centuries and a secret passageway that takes you to the terrace below the watchtower. The secret passage connects the first and third floors of the fortification and was first “discovered” in 1927 during renovations. From a fortress to a castle to a royal residence and a communist holding, Bran Castle has remained a towering example of Romanian fortitude and heritage, bringing in 800,000 visitors a year. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Music: Forest of Fear - Aakash Gandhi Invincible - Aakash Gandhi Tragic Story - Myuu Sound effect: Hallow Wind - YouTube Audio Library ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you like what you see, subscribe and click the bell to enable notifications for more travel videos. https://www.youtube.com/verynicetravel I really appreciate your support! ❤️❤️❤️ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The content of this channel, including: videos and images must not be downloaded for the purpose of being re-uploaded to YouTube or another 3rd party website or apps. Copyright © Very Nice Travel - All rights reserved.