Bran Castle
 

Castles in Romania

Bran Castle Museum (Dracula's Castle) Location of Bran Castle MuseumPhotos of Bran Castle Museum

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 (Vlad Dracul), a famous medieval warlord. The Bran fortress was built on a cliff between Magura and The Hill of the Fortress, its position conferring an outstanding view towards both the hills of Moeciu and the ones from the Land of Barsa. The building of the fortress was imposed by strategic and economic reasons.

The strategic reasons underlined by the expansion of the Ottoman Empire which, by the end of the XIV century, began threatening the south-eastern borders of Transylvania; the economic reasons, given by the fact that the commercial road, one of the most important access ways connecting Transylvania to Wallachia, crossed this area. All these reasons determined the Hungarian king Louis I of Anjou to develop strengthening works of the Bran pass.

The little homestead of Vlad Tepes, also known as Dracula, Bran Castle, is one of the top attractions in Transylvania and can easily be reached from Brasov. Although there are no historic sources linking the famous count with the sharp teeth to the castle, popular belief and travel writers have it that this is the place. ...[read more]

Peles Castle Museum Location of Peles Castle MuseumPhotos of Peles Castle Museum

On August 22, 1875, was established the foundation of Peles Castle, the city of Sinaia, and indeed for the country of Romania. The construction site, the Peles Creek Valley, was bought on this date by ruler Carol I (Carol of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen 1866-1881, later King of Romania 1881-1914). Several other buildings, annexed to the castle, were built simultaneously: The Guard's Chambers, The Economat Building, The Foisor Hunting House, The Royal Stables, and the Electrical Power Plant.

Peles Castle has over 170 rooms, unlike Pelisor Castle which has only 70. Worthy of mention is the fact that Peles Castle is the first European castle entirely lit by electrical current. This was possible because electricity was produced by its own electrical plant which was located on the bank of Peles creek.

It is also important to know that Peles Castle shelters one of the most important and most valuable painting collections in Europe, almost 2,000 pieces. After King Michael's forced abdication by the communists in 1947 the whole Peles complex except the homonymous castle which was opened for tourism became, for a short time, a creation and resting place for Romanian cultural personalities. ...[read more]

Corvins' Castle (Hunyadi Castle) Museum Location of Hunyadi Castle MuseumPhotos of Hunyadi Castle Museum

Corvins' Castle is also known by the name "Hunyadi Castle". "Hunyadi" is a more internationally recognized name for the same family, "Corvins" being used only by Romanians and Hungarians. The impressive size and architectural beauty sets it among the most precious monuments of medieval art, subsequent developments mixing Gothic style with Renaissance and Baroque. The building lies on a rock around which flows the river Zlasti. It has an impressive draw bridge, countless towers, a number of interior courts, and two large halls, "Knight Hall" and "Diet Hall", as it housed the diet of Transylvania for a very short period.

The castle history is mostly related to the Hunyadi family, being the place where Iancu de Hunedoara spent his childhood. Today the castle is being cared for by the municipality, as there are no recorded descendants of the Hunyadi that could pledge for it. Vlad Dracul, the ruler of Wallachia, father of the notorious Vlad Dracula, was imprisoned here, as he had fallen into disgrace with Hunyadi, not providing the help promised in the battle against the Ottomans. (Dracula, who had once been traded as a hostage to the Ottomans by his own father, later became a protege of Hunyadi and took over Wallachia shortly before his mentor's death of a fever). The castle and surroundings are often used by international film companies for the production of movies about medieval times. ...[read more]

Attractions

  • Prejmer Fortress

    Prejmer (German: Tartlau; Hungarian: Prazsmar) is a town in Brasov County, Romania. It is located 18 km northeast of Brasov. Prejmer Fortress (15th century) - is the best-preserved peasant fortress of Transylvania, included in the UNESCO patrimony.

  • Deva Fortress

    Deva (German: Diemrich, Hungarian: Deva) is a city situated on the left bank of the middle course of the Mures river. It is the capital of Hunedoara county in Romania and has around 80,000 inhabitants, including subordinated villages. In Ancient Times it was a Dacian fortress called Singidava.

  • Brasov Citadel

    Brasov, known as Kronstadt in German or Brasso in Hungarian is one of the largest cities in Romania. It is located in the center of the country and surrounded by the Carpathian Mountains. The city provides a mix of wonderful mountain scenery in the nearby Poiana Brasov and medieval history with Germanic influences in the old town.

  • Suceava Fortress

    Suceava is the capital city of the Suceava County, Bukovina, northeastern Romania. It is sittuated on a commercial high-way that linked the Baltic with the Black Sea. The town of Suceava gained its importance from the presence of the main royal palace which Petru I Musat built here at the end of the XlVth century. Close to the royal court and the citadel stood the Mirauti Church, the first Metropolitan Church of Moldavia, which once housed the relics of Saint John the New, one of Moldavia's patron saints.

  • Sibiu Citadel

    In 2007 Sibiu is the European Capital of Culture (together with Luxembourg). It is the most important cultural event that has ever happened in the city and a great number of tourists are expected, both domestic and foreign. The city of Sibiu and its surroundings are one of the most visited areas in Romania.

  • Rupea Citadel

    Rupea Fortress, located on the Northwestern side of Brasov county, was built on a basalt rock. The first trace of the citadel is on a document where the writers referred to it as Koholom citadel meaning the rock eminence. It is said that on that particular rock once existed a Roman camp, during the time Dacia was conquered by Romans. Later on, the Saxons and Hungarians who settled on these lands rebuilt the camp.

  • Sighisoara Citadel

    The Sighisoara Citadel is the old historic center of the town of Sighisoara (Hungarian: Segesvar, German: Schaessburg), Romania, built in the 12th century by Saxon colonists. It is the last inhabited medieval citadel in Europe and was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999, for its 850 year old testimony to the history and culture of the Transylvanian Saxons.

  • Rasnov Citadel

    Rasnov Citadel (Rosenau in German), is located on a rocky hilltop in the Carpathian mountains, 200m above the town of Rasnov in Romania. It is 15 km southwest of Brasov and also about 15 km from Bran Castle. The fortress is on the Bran Pass, a trade route connecting Wallachia with Transylvania. The view from the top of the castle hill is spectacular.

  • Fagaras Citadel

    Fagaras Fortress is the most impressive monument of the town, and the core around which the town was actually built. Ladislaw Kan started to built it in 1310 on the former place of a 12th century wooden fortress strengthened by earthen walled fortifications. The former fortress had been burned down by the Tartars in 1241. The fort was enlarged and rebuilt in the 15th-17th centuries in the Transylvanian Renaissance style and came to be known, alongside with Deva, as one of the strongest fortifications in Transylvania.

  • Harman Fortress

    The Harman fortress is located 8 km north-east of Brasov. It dates back to the 13th century when the Saxons built the original church in a Romanesque style which was restored in a Gothic style.

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  • Putna Monastery

    We know about Putna that it was the first monastery built by Stephen the Great (Stefan cel Mare). Moreover, the ruler wanted it to be his place of eternal rest. Thus, like Bogdan I and Alexander the Good, Stephen the Great meant the monastery to be the ruling family necropolis.

  • Sambata de sus Monastery

    Sambata de sus, also called "Brancoveanu" Monastery is located on the valley of Sambata river. The monastery is famous for being a place of recovery, comfort and spiritual balm for visitors who halt or pray in this sacred dwelling.

  • Sucevita Monastery

    Sucevita is chronologically the last and greatest monastic ensemble among the painted monasteries in Bukovina, as it has the appearance of a real fortress, with towers, buttresses and watch roads.

  • Curtea de Arges Monastery

    The Cathedral of Curtea de Arges (early 16th century) is one of the most famous buildings in Romania, and stands in the grounds of a monastery, 1 1/2 km north of Curtea de Arges. It is dedicated to Saint Nicholas.

  • Cozia Monastery

    Cozia (like its sister Tismana, farther off, and like the neighboring monasteries of Turnu and Stanisoara), is set in one of the most picturesque of the many carpathian landscapes which are the pride of Oltenia, this immense repository of such monuments.

  • Moldovita Monastery

    Moldovita Monastery that one can we see today dates back to 1532 and is due to ruling prince Petru Rares (1532-1546). It has, like Sucevita, the aspect of a fortress, with imposing towers and high, thick walls (6 m high, 1.2 m wide).

  • Voronet Monastery

    The Voronet Monastery is possibly the most famous monastery of Romania. It is known throughout the world for its exterior frescoes of bright and intense colours, and for the hundreds of well-preserved figures placed against the renowned azurite background.

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Tours

  • One day tour (A1)

    Brasov Citadel
    Rasnov Citadel
    Bran Castle (Dracula's Castle)
    Peles Castle (Sinaia)

  • One day tour (A2)

    Brasov Citadel
    Rasnov Citadel
    Bran Castle (Dracula's Castle)
    Fagaras Citadel

  • One day tour (A3)

    Brasov Citadel
    Rupea Citadel
    Sighisoara Citadel

  • One day tour (A4)

    Brasov Citadel
    Harman Fortress
    Prejmer Fortress

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  • Dracula Tour (B1)

    Explore the Transylvanian lands in the search of Dracula's true story. During day 1 you will be visiting Rasnov Citadel and Bran Castle. In the evening Brasov old city will be presented to you. A special accommodation will be taken care of for you at a lodging that is a scaled copy of the Bran Castle. On day 2 you will explore Sighisoara's Citadel followed by lunch at a restaurant located in the home where Vlad Tepes was born and raised.

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Transfers

 
Phone: +4 0722139979