VLAD DRACULA - "THE IMPALER"
PRINCE OF WALLACHIA

Vlad was born in Sighisoara in Transylvania in 1431 - the house where he was born still stands today and now contains a restaurant. He lived during a time of great conflict. Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Empire of the Turks in 1453 and his father joined the Order of Dragon - a union of eastern and central European rulers - to repel further expansion.

Years were spent as a hostage of the Turks before Vlad took the throne of Wallachia in Targoviste and attempted to rid his country of subservience to the Turks.

Knowledge gained from captivity enabled him to use terror tactics against wayward landlords to gain obedience and against the Turks who attempted to invade Wallachia and capture him. Dracula means "Son of the Devil", and this nickname, in addition to "the Impaler", were soon applied to Vlad.

On one occasion they were repulsed by the sight of a forest of the victims of a previous invasion impaled outside the capital Targoviste. He was later deposed by his brother, who sided with the Turks and he fled from his castle in the gorge of the Arges at Poienari, aided by the villagers of Arefu, across the mountains to Transylvania, where he was sheltered for while in the mountain castle of "Königstein" (Piatra Craiului), now a ruin above the Rucar Pass

Vlad returned to the throne of Wallachia only to be murdered a few months later. His decapitated remains were buried at Snagov Monastery near Bucharest, which he had once partly converted into a prison. The capital itself was first recorded during the time of his first reign when he built a citadel there.

Dracula: best-selling fiction devised by the Irish writer Bram Stoker in the manner of the English Gothic novel; successfully promoted by the 20th c. Anglo-Saxon film industry; his name has been attached to the Bran Castle, which actually belonged to Vlad the Impaler’s grand-father, Mircea the Old, but was never owned, inhabited or visited by Vlad the Impaler himself.

In the Bârgau River Valley, near Bistrita (the picturesque geographical area commonly associated with the dwelling of the vampire-count), a castle-like hotel was built during the 1980’s; called the Dracula Castle, it provides excellent tourist service and allows one to indulge leisurely in a picturesque and legendary environment. Renowned Vineyards

The vineyards at Lechinta, Târnave, Alba Iulia, Sebes-Apold, Simleu Silvaniei provide visitors with a high quality and not too expensive sorts of wines, i.e. Pinot Gris, Traminer Rosé, Sauvignon Blanc, Muscat-Ottonel, Feteasca Regala, Feteasca Alba, Italian Riesling, Furmint etc.