Bran Castle
by Jeffrey Kolker
Title
Bran Castle
Artist
Jeffrey Kolker
Medium
Painting - Digital Painting
Description
The stone castle of Bran, Romania was built by the Saxons in the late 1300's as a means of defense for the growing city of Kronstadt (today known as Brasov). There had originally been a wooden castle on this site built in 1212 by the Teutonic Knights, but it was destroyed by the Mongols 30 years later.
For the most part, the castle was defensive only, and was only used as a royal residence starting in the 1900's until 1948 when a communist regime was installed. In the late 1400's the King of Hungary owned the castle but didn't live there. The King was apparently a deadbeat, didn't pay his bills, and the City of Brasov repossessed.
Notably, the castle is sometimes referred to as "Dracula's Castle" the Vlad the Impaler (Vlad Tepes) really didn't have much to do with the castle, nor did the book by Stoker describe this castle. It's still fun for the tourists. I've been twice!
Today, the heirs of the royal family own the castle, have set up a museum and are working with Bran to use the castle to help the tourist economy of the area.
Uploaded
December 17th, 2022
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