Dawn Berkoski

I heard that Bram Stoker’s description of Dracula’s castle was eerily similar to a Medieval castle nestled in the Carpathian Mountains. So, I went through the valleys of these snow-tipped mountains, headed to the small commune of Bran.

Was this the castle that inspired the author? Evidence suggests that Stoker was never in the area, yet he wrote such a fascinating account of a prison-like structure, with many locked doors, and impossible to escape widows a thousand feet off the ground.

What I do know, is that Bran Castle is a photographer’s dream with towering evergreens surrounding it, and a bedrock foundation that rises from the picturesque grounds that feature a pretty pond and may have housed a river at one time. Dramatic, and isolated in its beauty, it does, indeed, have many locked doors and few windows on the ground floor.

Throughout history and various wars, Bran has changed hands many times. Now, most of the information in the castle revolves around the later years and Princess Marie of Edinburgh who was gifted the castle by the Romanian people. I think she must have been a romantic woman. You will notice hearts on some of the doors, a soft touch for a kind soul who was known for her charitable work and nursing during World War I. She also represented Romania during the Paris Peace talks. After she passed, her heart was interred in the chapel at Bran Castle for a time before moving to its final resting place at Pelişor Castle.

As I roamed this labyrinth of a castle, with its odd-angled steps, rounded doors, and hidden passages, I thought about Dracula, but I also recalled what I learned about Princess Marie and her husband, King Ferdinand I of Romania, from the wandering crusader in the Alba Iulia Citadel.

In the Coronation Church where Ferdinand was crowned, I had seen an image of Michael the Brave, Prince Micheal II of Wallachia on the ceiling and made a note to investigate him more. Here he was again, pictured right beside Vlad Tepes, the inspiration for Dracula. And another strange tie to the Citadel, a similar 3D topographical map of the castle. I puzzled over the connections as I continued, but I was swiftly distracted by the diabolical antiques in the torture room and an inner courtyard that looked like it stepped out of a fantasy novel.

What I learned in the end was this: Vlad’s connection to the castle relies mostly on trade routes between Wallachia and Brasov, the nearby city, and his hostile relations with the Saxons who lived in the area. Some say that his fierce title of Vlad the Impaler comes from his attacks on villages like these where he put people’s heads on stakes, a warning, and punishment, perhaps, from their backing of his rival to the throne.

There were no vampires to be found.

So, as they often say when you are at a crossroads in an investigation, follow the money trail. Brasov was about thirty minutes away, a hub of trade during Vlad’s years. There are at least two sides to a story, and there was a certain Black Church, built by the Saxons, that might reveal the answers I craved.

Dawn B~