Dracula's Castle Bran Castle

Bran Castle, situated between the Bucegi and Piatra Craiului Mountains, 30 km far from Brasov, is the only touristic point that attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists because of a legend: Count Dracula’s Legend, although the historical sources state that Vlad Tepes (Vlad the Impaler) dropped by only once, in his way to Brasov.
Initially, the Bran Castle (in Slavic „brana” means „gate”) was a stronghold known as Dietrichstein, built by the Teutonic Knights in 1212, stronghold that was conquered by the Saxons living in Transylvania towards the end of the 13th century.
The first documentary attestation dates from 1377, when Ludovic I D’Anjou gave the inhabitants of Brasov the privilege to build the citadel in the place of the old stronghold. Then, between 1419 and 1424, it was in Sigismund’s possession.
At the end of the 15th century, it was subordinated to the authority of the Szeklers Committee, and since the reign of Iancu of Hunedoara, it passed under the rule of the Voivode of Transylvania.

The way to the entrance in Bran Castle.

Vlad Tsepes Dracula aka Vlad The Impaler, Prince of Wallachia (1431-76)

source : www.romanianmonasteries.org/romania/bran-castle