The place behind the legend.

Bran Castle stands on a rock above the village of Bran, about 30 km south-west of Brașov. From 1377 the Saxons of Brașov built it to guard the road through the Bran pass between Transylvania and Wallachia.

For centuries it was a fortress and a customs post. Its thick walls, towers and narrow passages follow the shape of the rock it stands on.

In 1920 the city of Brașov gave the castle to Queen Marie of Romania. With the architect Karel Liman she turned it into a home, with furnished rooms, timber galleries, a tea house and a park below the rock.

Look at how the royal rooms sit inside the older fortress: a carved chest beneath a low vaulted ceiling, a gallery opening onto the courtyard, a window framing the valley.

• Explore the history of the castle→

Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel Dracula made a Transylvanian castle famous around the world. Bran’s dramatic setting made it the castle many visitors picture, although there is no firm evidence that it inspired Stoker or that Vlad III lived here.

This history belongs to the place and the people who shaped it. The History page offers a longer introduction, and the timeline gives a short route through selected milestones.

• Read the history of the castle→
• Explore the timeline→