Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The Dracula Myth
Love it or loathe it, visit Romania and you can't ignore the omnipresence of Dracula; from
mugs to T-shirts, and bat and blood-themed menus to vampire-costumed waiters. But
what's really chilling is that a blueprint for the pale, shape-shifting count we were reared on
in horror films actually existed - though not in a black cape and cloud of fog, rather as a
Wallachian warrior king with a predilection for extreme cruelty. In equal measure to a face
of fangs staring back at you at every turn, you'll also see the moustached visage of Vlad
Ţepeş (later known as Vlad the Impaler).
The Impaler
Fifteenth-century prince Vlad Ţepeş is often credited with being Dracula, the vampire-
count featured in the classic Gothic horror story
Dracula
(1897). His princely father, Vlad
III, was called Vlad Dracul. Dracul(a) actually means 'son of the house of Dracul', which
itself translates as 'devil' or 'dragon'. Add to this diabolical moniker the fact that Vlad
used to impale his victims - from which you get his other surname: Ţepeş (Impaler) - and
it's easy to see why Dracula's creator, Irishman Bram Stoker, tapped into his bloodline.
Even though Romanian shops are quick to bunch merchandise of the 19th-century vampire
and 15th-century leader together, Vlad Ţepeş is still a much respected figure in Romania
today; a symbol of independence and resistance, for his stand against the Ottoman empire.
Legend has it that Ţepeş was born in 1431 opposite the clock
tower in Sighişoara, and at the age of 17 he ascended to the
throne of Wallachia. In 1459 his first act of murderous renown
was against the Boyars of Târgovişte for the murder of his fath-
er and brother. The older among the Boyars were brutally im-
paled on spikes while the remainder were frogmarched 80km to
Poienari where they were ordered to build an 850m-high fort-
ress guarding the pass. You can still visit the ruins today via
1500 steps.
Best Dracula
Films
»
Bram Stoker's Dracula
(Francis Ford Coppola, 1992)
»
Nosferatu the Vampyre
(Werner Herzog, 1979)
»
Horror of Dracula
(Terence
Fisher, 1958)
The Vampire
Bram Stoker's literary Dracula, by contrast, was a bloodsucking
vampire - an undead corpse reliant on the blood of the living to sustain his own immortal-
