Bran Castle is a castle in Bran, 25 kilometres southwest of Brașov. It is a national monument and landmark in Romania. The fortress is on the Transylvanian side of the historical border with Wallachia, on road DN73. Commonly known outside Romania as Dracula’s Castle it is often referred to as the home of the title character in Bram Stoker’s Dracula. There is no evidence that Stoker knew anything about this castle, which has only tangential associations with Vlad the Impaler, voivode of Wallachia, the putative inspiration for Dracula. Stoker’s description of Dracula’s crumbling fictional castle also bears no resemblance to Bran Castle. The castle is now a museum dedicated to displaying art and furniture collected by Queen Marie. Tourists can see the interior on their own or by a guided tour. At the bottom of the hill is a small open-air museum exhibiting traditional Romanian peasant structures from the Bran region.
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