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BRAN |
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The small town of BRAN (Törzburg) is probably the most popular
tourist site in Romania. Situated only 28km southwest of Brasov, the
town commands the entrance to the pass of the same name, formerly the
main route into Wallachia. The Saxons of Kronstadt (Brasov) built a
castle here in 1377-82 to safeguard this vital trade artery, and
although what's now billed on every tourist brochure as " Dracula's
Castle " has only tenuous associations with Vlad the Impaler - it's
likely he attacked it in 1460 during one of his raids on the Burzen Land
- the fib is understandable as Bran does look rather like a vampire
count's residence. Perched on a rocky bluff, it rises in tiers of towers
and ramparts from the woods, against a glorious mountain backdrop,
living up to the gothic fairy-tale image that Stoker's book evokes.
Aside from the attractions of the castle, Bran is a good base for hikes
into the Bucegi mountains to the east and onto the narrow ridge of the
Piatra Craiului , the eastern extremity of the Fagaras mountains, to the
west.
After lengthy restoration, the castle (Tues-Sun 9am-6pm) now looks much
as it would have done in the time of its most famous resident, Queen
Marie of Romania . A granddaughter of Queen Victoria and married to
Prince Ferdinand in 1893, Queen Marie soon rebelled against the confines
of court life in Bucharest - riding unattended through the streets,
pelting citizens with roses during the carnival, and appointing herself
a colonel of the Red Hussars ( Rosiori ). Her popularity soared after
she organized cholera camps in the Balkan war and appeared at the Paris
peace conference in 1919, announcing that "Romania needs a face, and I
have come to show mine". Marie called Bran a "pugnacious little fortress",
but whether because of her spirit pervading the rooms or the profusion
of flowers in the yard, it seems a welcoming place, at odds with its
forbidding exterior. A warren of spiral stairs, ghostly nooks and secret
chambers filled with elaborately carved four-poster beds and throne-like
chairs overhangs the courtyard. Not surprisingly, it can get horribly
crowded: the trick is to arrive on the dot as the castle opens - the bus
parties will be arriving as you leave.
In the grounds the Village Museum (same hours and ticket as castle)
comprises some fine examples of local architecture, including a fulling
mill, and by the road south, the Ancient Customs House Museum (same
hours and ticket), in the former vama , predictably stresses the trade
links from the earliest times between the Vlachs on either side of the
Carpathians, and displays examples of foreign goods including an English
clock and a Canadian travelling trunk. There's a hectic crafts market at
the castle gate.
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