Bran Castle
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Bran Castle is a medieval fortress perched on a rocky hill in the village of Bran, about 25 kilometres southwest of the city of Brașov in Transylvania, Romania. With its towers, red roofs and white walls rising above the trees, it looks like something from a storybook, and it is one of the most visited sights in Romania.
See it on the 3D globe →At a glance
- Country
- Romania
- Location
- Brașov County, Romania
- Built
- 1388
- Type
- Castle
Quick answers
Where is Bran Castle?
Bran Castle is in Brașov County, Romania.
When was Bran Castle built?
Bran Castle was built in 1388.
A Transylvanian hilltop fortress popularly known as "Dracula's Castle".
The castle guards a mountain pass that once linked Transylvania with Wallachia, two old regions of what is now Romania. It was built in the late 1300s to defend the pass and to collect taxes from traders. Today many people know it as "Dracula's Castle", even though the link to the famous vampire story is mostly a legend created for tourists. Its real history, from border fortress to the favourite home of a queen, is just as interesting.
History
In 1377 King Louis I of Hungary allowed the people of Brașov to build a stone castle at the Bran pass, and the work was finished in 1388. Soldiers watched the border, and the castle acted as a customs post, charging a tax of about three percent on goods carried in or out of Transylvania. In 1920 the people of Brașov gave the castle to Queen Marie of Romania, who loved it and turned it into a cosy royal home and summer residence.
The legend vs the facts
Bram Stoker's novel Dracula, written in the late 1800s, describes a vampire count living in a castle in Transylvania, and Bran is often said to be that castle. But Stoker never visited Romania, his book does not mention Bran, and the castle in the novel does not match it. People also connect the castle with Vlad the Impaler, a real prince of Wallachia whose family name is linked to the Dracula legend, yet most historians agree Vlad never lived at Bran. The vampire link grew mainly because visitors loved the idea.
Visiting today
After Queen Marie, the castle passed to her daughter, Princess Ileana, until the royal family was forced to leave Romania in 1948. The communist government opened it as a museum in 1956. In 2006 it was legally returned to Ileana's heirs, who run it as a museum today. Visitors climb narrow stairs, explore rooms filled with old furniture and art collected by the queen, and can find a hidden passage that links the first and third floors.
Fun facts
- It is called Dracula's Castle, though author Bram Stoker never visited Romania.
- Bran Castle was once a customs post that charged traders a tax of about 3 percent on their goods.
- Bram Stoker, who wrote Dracula, never visited Romania.
- A secret passage inside the castle connects the first floor with the third floor.
- Queen Marie of Romania made the castle her favourite summer home in the 1920s.
On the globe
The model shows a hilltop fortress in Transylvania, popularly known as "Dracula's Castle". Zoom in on central Romania to see it sitting on its rocky hill.
Quiz time
Which is older: Bran Castle or Palace of the Parliament?
Show the answer
Bran Castle. (1388 vs 1997) Palace of the Parliament →
Nearby on the globe
Sources
- Read more on Wikipedia
- Bran Castle — Wikipedia
- Historical chronology — Bran Castle (official site)
- Bran Castle — official site
Updated: 2026-10-13