Bran Castle is located near Bran, Romania and is commonly known as "Dracula's Castle" due to its association with the titular character in Bram Stoker's novel Dracula. However, there is no evidence Stoker knew of this castle, which only has tangential connections to Vlad III, the historical figure believed to inspire Dracula. Currently the castle is a museum open to tourists, displaying art and furniture collected by Queen Marie, with traditional Romanian structures exhibited in the park below.

1. Coord. Teacher : Students:
Frumuselu Mihai Mares Raluca-Nicoleta
Stancescu Elena-Ramona
IEA, Group: 8202
University of Agronomic Science and Veterinary Medicine
Bucureşti

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Bran Castle, situated near Bran and in the immediate vicinity of Braşov, is a
national monument and landmark in Romania. The fortress is situated on the
border between Transylvania and Wallachia, on DN73. Commonly known as
"Dracula's Castle" , it is the home of the titular character in Bram
Stoker's Dracula. There is, however, no evidence that Stoker knew anything
about this castle, which has only tangential associations with Vlad
III, voivode of Wallachia, the putative inspiration for Dracula. As discovered by
the Dutch author Hans Corneel de Roos, the location Bram Stoker actually
had in mind for Castle Dracula while writing his novel was an empty mountain
top, Mount Izvorul Călimanului, 2,033 metres high, located in the
Transylvanian Călimani Alps near the former border with Moldavia.

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 The castle is now a museum open to tourists,
displaying art and furniture collected by Queen
Marie. Tourists can see the interior individually or
by a guided tour. At the bottom of the hill is a small
open-air museum park exhibiting traditional
Romanian peasant structures (cottages, barns, etc.)
from across the country.

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 In 1956, Bran Castle was transformed by the
communist authorities into a museum. The museum
had three departments: the Castle – which contained
pieces of royal heritage; the medieval customs; and
Ethnography – that included traditional houses in
the park near the castle.
 In 1993, The castle’s restoration works, which had
started in 1987, were finished. The Castle was
reopened as a museum and was reintroduced into
the tourist circuit.

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 On 18 May 2009, the Bran Castle administration
was transferred from the government to the
administration of Archduke Dominic and his sisters
Maria-Magdalena Holzhausen and Elisabeth
Sandhofer. On 1 June 2009, the Habsburgs opened
the refurbished castle to the public as the first private
museum of the country and disclosed with Bran
Village a joint strategic concept to maintain their
domination in the Romanian tourist circuit and to
safeguard the economic base in the region.

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 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bran_Castle
 http://www.bran-castle.com/history.html
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