Dracula – Between myth and reality

admin — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 11:28:51 +0000

Dracula or Vlad the Impaler was the son of Vlad Dracul (1436-1442; 1443-1447) and grandson of Mircea the Old (1386-1418). Vlad Dracul was dubbed a knight of the Dragon Order by the Hungarian king. All the members of the order had a dragon on their coat of arms, and that is what brought him the nickname of Dracul (the Devil). Vlad the Impaler used to sign himself Draculea or Draculya – the Devil’s son -, a name which was distorted into Dracula.Dracula’s renown reached the West through the Saxons from the Transylvanian towns of Brasov (Kronstadt) and Sibiu (Hermannstadt), who often gave shelter to those who claimed the Wallachian throne. In order to escape the peril of losing his throne, Vlad would punish the Saxons. Sibiu and the neighbouring area were pillaged and burnt down by Vlad, and many Saxons were impaled. The same happened to the Saxon merchants who came on business to Târgoviste.In fact, Vlad was called Tepes (the Impaler) only after his death (1476). He ruled in Wallachia between 1456-1462 and in 1476. In 1462, having been defeated by the Turks, Vlad took refuge in Hungary. In 1476, with the help of the Hungarian king Matia Corvin and the Moldavian prince Stephen the Great, Vlad took over the Wallachian throne again for a month. A battle followed, during which Vlad was killed. His body was buried in the church of the Snagov Monastery, on an island near Bucharest. His body lies in front of the altar. In 1935, a richly dressed but beheaded corpse was exhumed at Snagov, a fate known to have overtaken Dracula, whose head was supposedly wrapped, perfumed and dispatched as a gift to the Turkish sultan.They say that impalling was one of Dracula’s favourite punishments, but he was not the only one who made use of it at the time. Other German and Spanish princes would do the same. He used the method for boyars, thieves and criminals, Turks, Saxons and those who conspired against him; more than once it happened that a whole forest of sharp stakes with enemies’ heads would rise around Târgoviste, the capital of Wallachia at the time.Horrified by these atrocities, the Saxons printed books and pamphlets in which they told about Vlad’s cruelty. These booklets also reached Germany and Western Europe, where Dracula became known as a bloody tyrant.In 1897, the Irish writer Bram Stoker published Dracula, which made Vlad the Impaler famous world-wide. Stoker read the stories about Dracula printed in the 15th and 16th centuries and was struck by his acts of cruelty. He decided to make him his character; he also read several books about Transylvania (a name of Latin origin, meaning “the country beyond the forests”), and thought that this “exotic” land would make a proper setting for Dracula’s deeds.In fact, Stoker used Vlad only as a source of inspiration, since in his novel, Dracula is not prince Vlad the Impaler, but a Transylvanian count living in a mysterious castle where he lured his victims. His story takes place in the Bistritza area, and the castle lies near the Bârgau Pass (in the Carpathian Mountains). As Stoker had never visited Transylvania, most places and happenings were pure fiction.Legend and true history about Dracula intermingle and are being kept alive by tourist destinations like the Monastery of Snagov near Bucharest, or Bran Castle near Brasov

Projects Abroad Volunteers in Romania Take Orphans on Trip to Dracula?s Birth Place

admin — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 11:26:17 +0000

Romania Country Director – Gabriela Badea-Gheracostea tells us about some extra activities that our Care & Community volunteers have recently been involved in.

‘Sighisoara is a picturesque town in central Romania, best known for its beautiful churches and being the birth place of Dracula. Early on a Saturday morning, courtesy of McLain Finlan Advertising who funded the trip, six Teaching & Projects Abroad volunteers and twelve children from a Brasov orphanage began a day trip to Sighisoara.

Sighisoara is about 2½ hours away by train. During the journey we played games and got to know the children better. When we arrived in Sighisoara, it became apparent why this location was so highly regarded. There were many traditional Romanian homes situated on the small hills with extravagantly decorated churches dotted around. We first went to see the museums and the churches. After the cultural visits we had lunch in a restaurant in town and in the afternoon we went to the park and played games like football and volleyball. In the late afternoon we went back to the train station and caught our train back to Brasov. We arrived back in the evening tired but a good time was had by all.

On this first trip the children were a bit shy and reluctant to put their names forward for the excursion. After the stories of the children who did come with us, for the next trip to Rasnov, there were many more children wanting to join us!

Two weeks later, we took our next trip with the children. The original plan was to stay in a cabin overnight but due to the cold weather we decided that that this was not sensible and took a day trip instead. When we arrived in Rasnov we went on a 45 minute hike to the top of the mountain where the town fortress is situated. The fortress dates back to the fourteenth century when it was built to protect the town’s people from invasion. We took some pictures and then proceeded down the mountain to begin the barbeque we had planned. We had our barbeque at the local tennis club. The barbeque took a while to prepare, so in the meantime we played some games and had a sing-song, with a guitar that a volunteer had brought along. After this we sat down and enjoyed the food prepared by the sports instructor and a couple of the children before catching the bus back to Brasov.

We now have a few more trips planned for the future, and I hope that they will be as fulfilling and enjoyable as our days in Sighisoara and Rasnov.’Find Out About Our Care Placements in Romaniawww.projects-abroad.co.uk

Cazare in Brasov » Dracula

Dracula – Between myth and reality

Projects Abroad Volunteers in Romania Take Orphans on Trip to Dracula?s Birth Place