Vlad Țepeș, bloody prince
The character of Dracula takes his name from a famous voivode in Romanian history, famous for his cruelty: Vlad III, a 15th century prince of Wallachia, nicknamed Vlad the Impaler (Țepeș). His nickname comes from his penchant for the torture of the stake, which he willingly inflicted on his opponents, among other atrocities. He is the son of Vlad II the Dragon (Vlad Dracul), so called because he belongs to the Order of the Dragon, founded by Emperor Sigismund of Luxembourg to defend Christianity against the Ottomans. Hence the other nickname of Țepeș: Dracula, "the son of the dragon". In Romanian, dracul can also be translated as "the devil".
Born in the Saxon town of Sighișoara around 1431, Vlad Țepeș spent his adolescence as a hostage among the Ottomans, sent by his father as a token of loyalty to the Turkish overlords. A captivity he left in 1448 to reconquer the throne of Wallachia, with the support and troops of the sultan. He regained power from Dănești, the rival dynasty, which took it back two months later. Țepeș regains it in 1456 and keeps it until 1462. To consolidate his power, he established an authoritarian regime, based on terror. His reign was also marked by clashes with the Ottomans. Vlad Țepeș refuses to pay tribute to the Turks, breaking the pact of allegiance sealed a few decades earlier, and inflicts bloody defeats on them. He was finally ousted from power in 1462 by his younger brother Radu the Handsome, supported by the Turks. He fled and thought he would find refuge with his ally Mathias Corvin, the King of Hungary. But the latter imprisoned him for more than ten years. Released, Vlad Țepeș made a brief return to the throne in 1476. He is killed the same year, in troubled circumstances, and his head is sent to the sultan.
Vlad Țepeș probably did not steal his reputation as a bloodthirsty tyrant, but it was greatly accentuated by his opponents, via pamphlets printed in Germany and which spread throughout Europe. For Romanians, Țepeș is one of the heroes of the nation, which defended its independence against the Ottomans. He is perceived as a tough but fair ruler. The link between Vlad Țepeș and Dracula stops at the name. The first was prince of Wallachia, a feudal state south of the Carpathians, while the second is a sicilian count, established in northern Transylvania. Above all, Țepeș has nothing to do with a vampire: he shed blood, but nothing says that he drank it. His taste for impalement definitely rules out the hypothesis, since it is precisely one of the only ways, according to legend, to kill vampires!The strigoi, vampires of Romanian folklore
Bram Stoker set the plot of his vampiric novel in a region rich in folklore: throughout Eastern Europe, beliefs related to vampires were widespread at the time, particularly among Romanians, who called them strigoi. Strigoi are tormented souls whose bodies do not decay. These undead come out of their graves at night to haunt their loved ones, or even the entire village: they pump vital energy, multiply curses, steal milk and wheat, spread epidemics among men and livestock, cause droughts or hail. Several factors can make someone a strigoi: living the life of a sinner, dying by drowning or hanging... Two nights are particularly conducive to the manifestation of strigoi: the vigil of St. Andrew's Day, October 29-30, called the Night of the Gypsies, and St. George's Day, April 23. On these evenings, the house is caulked, garlic is eaten, the edges of windows are rubbed with it and cows' udders are rubbed for protection. These beliefs are very old and remain to this day. They were at their height between the middle of the 17th century and the middle of the 19th century, a period marked by plague and then cholera epidemics. Numerous cases of vampirism have been reported: village communities, complaining of being haunted by strigoi, dug up the supposed returnees and inflicted all sorts of treatments to try to get rid of them, often supported by the local clergy : staked through the heart, burned or chopped up corpses... In 2004, a family in Oltenia was convicted of exhuming and burning one of its members who had died shortly before, whose niece claimed he visited her at night. In his novel, Stoker makes several references to these beliefs. On the other hand, the myth of Dracula has no place in the imagination of Romanians, who adopted it for the sole purpose of tourism.
And Stoker created the myth
Bram Stoker never set foot in Romania. The Irish writer drew his inspiration from various books on local history and folklore, as well as from his exchanges with his friend Arminius Vambery, a Hungarian orientalist. He was also able to draw on a rich literature: in the 19th century, in full Gothic mode, many novels already featured vampires. But it was Bram Stoker who popularized the vampire figure with his Dracula, published in 1897. This epistolary novel tells - beware, spoiler! - the story of Jonathan Harker, a young notary charged with travelling to Transylvania to get Count Dracula to sign the deed for the purchase of a house in London. But Harker soon realizes that his host is a vampire. He is locked up in the castle, while Dracula leaves for England, where he vampires Jonathan's fiancée, Mina. Harker manages to escape, returns to London, and begins a vampire hunt, with the help of some friends, including Professor Van Helsing. The party eventually caught up with the Count, and killed him, stabbing him in the heart. Mina was freed from his spell. The novel was a great success when it came out. The character of Dracula and the figure of the vampire will become a recurring theme in literature and cinema: the story is adapted on the big screen in 1931, with the actor Bela Lugosi in the role of the Count, then in 1958 with Christopher Lee, and more recently with Gary Oldman, in the film by Francis Ford Coppola released in 1992. Other works in the vampire vein have been successful and maintained the public's fascination for these creatures (Twilight, Interviews with a Vampire...). Dracula thus became a major attraction in Romania.
In the footsteps of Dracula
Many hotels and restaurants exploit the Dracula vein, generally in a very kitsch vein, with a great deal of medieval or pseudo-fantastic staging. At Bistrița you can stay at the Golden Crown Hotel, where Jonathan Harker spends his first night in Stoker's novel. Except that this large building has little to do with the hostel of the time: it was erected in the 1980s by the communist regime, anxious to please travellers in search of the vampire. T
he same goes for the Hotel Castel Dracula, built near the Borgo Pass (Bârgău in Romanian), where the writer located the Count's castle. Nevertheless, the place, which connects Transylvania to Moldova, is of spectacular beauty, offering panoramic views of the surrounding countryside.At Sighișoara, you can discover the supposed birthplace of Vlad Țepeș, a large yellow building in the centre, where the future voivode would have spent the first years of his life, from 1431 to 1436. There you can even devour a stew or grill with Dracula sauce: Casa Vlad Dracul has been transformed into a restaurant, very touristy, but with good service. It conceals a 15th century fresco depicting Vlad Dracul, the only known portrait of the Impaler's father. Upstairs, for an extra charge, you can admire one of these kitschy settings as you wish. A few blocks away, The Dracula Investigation is a much more instructive experience. This immersive exhibition will plunge you into the life of the voivode.
Misrepresented as Dracula's Castle, Bran Castle has no connection to Stoker's novel or to the story of Vlad Țepeș, who probably never set foot there. Only the resemblance with the Count's home described by Stoker earned him this label, intended to bait tourists. But that's fair enough: Bran Castle, refurbished by Queen Mary in the 1920s, is one of the most beautiful in the country. Its quirky architecture and its location on a rocky peak in the middle of the mountains make it a spectacular and imaginative place. You will also glean elements from Țepeș, Dracula and the strigoi, while the torture chamber will satisfy those in search of thrills.
The real castle at Țepeș would be the citadel of Poenari, a fortress perched on a Carpathian ridge at the foot of the mountains Făgăraș. Vlad the Impaler made it his second home and enlarged it. Legend has it that this is where he took refuge from the Turks in 1462, when they invaded the region. Some 1,400 steps must be climbed to reach these ruins, which offer a panoramic view of the surrounding mountains. Note that the citadel has been closed to the public since 2019 for rehabilitation work. It is expected to reopen in 2020 at the earliest.
About thirty kilometres further south, Curtea de Argeș is the first capital of Wallachia, founded in the 14th century. It is here that Vlad Țepeș is said to have been crowned in 1456. The princely court has several religious monuments, including a monastery that houses the royal necropolis. Second capital of Wallachia, established by Mircea the Elder, the grandfather of Țepeș, Târgoviște is another emblematic place of his reign. He is credited with the construction of the Chindia Tower, the symbol of the city. Vlad III also resided at the princely court of Bucharest (Curtea veche), in the Lipscani district. These ruins constitute the oldest medieval monument in the city. The complex, which houses a museum, has been closed for work since 2015. You can still see a bust of the voivode.
In Hunedoara, don't miss a visit to the castle of Mathias Corvin, King of Hungary. Initially an ally of Țepeș, he turned against it after his defeat against the Ottomans in 1462 and held it prisoner for several years. With its Gothic architecture, it is one of the most impressive castles in the country.
The journey Țepeș ends in Snagov, a monastery located on an island in the middle of a lake, 40 km north of Bucharest. This is where the voivode is said to have been buried, although there is no evidence to confirm this. A grave was indeed discovered in the church, during excavations in the 1930s, under a tombstone whose inscription had faded away. However, the body inside the tomb decomposed in a few minutes when it came into contact with air, making identification impossible. Yet another mystery in the legend of Dracula.
