In the footsteps of Dracula

More or less by coincidence we ended up following in the footsteps of Dracula, from birth to death – or actually the other way around.

On the way from Bucharest to Brasov, we did a detour to Snagov to visit the monastery. In hindsight, we could easily skip it, but if you are a very interested in Vlad Tepes maybe you should reconsider, as this is where he is buried. As we did not even know that, it was the start of a few random “meetings” with him, starting backwards from his death.

The character Dracula from Bram Stokers novel is often mistaken as Vlad Tepes (also known as Vlad the Impaler or Vlad Drakul). The devil is known by many names…. Dracula actually mean “son of the Devil” in Romanian.

So, they are not the same, but that is a minor detail. Let’s just pretend. As the tourist industry mainly does…

As is the case also for Bran Castle. Yes, it might have been the inspiration for Draculas castle mentioned in the novel, but Vlad Tepes never lived there. He MAY have stayed there a few nights on his flight from the Turks, but that is maximum.

Sighisoara on the other hand is the birthplace of Vlad, and they even have a room in the Casa Dracula restaurant claiming to be the room where he was born. Apparently, there is a coffin up there as well. We did not go to check…

Our guided tour in Sibiu ended outside the The Evangelic Church, where the guide talked about many interesting facts. What made us pay most attention though, and actually made both of us burst into laughter, was the fact that Vlad Tepe’s son is buried inside! Seriously, what are the odds?!

We thought at least this would be the end of our Vlad/Dracula related places, as our road trip was about to end. But no. Driving the The Transfagarasan Highway, we passed Poienari Fortress. This is the ruin of the real Dracula Castle, where Vlad Tepes actually lived. And back in Bucharest, his statue was standing out in the Old Town….

Dracula fans are welcome!