All Hallow’s Eve in Peles and Bran Castles
As I only had a limited time in Romania and did want to get into the countryside, I did what I normally do not do, which is book a day trip group tour to Peles and Bran Castles and Brasov. I wanted to see Brasov due to its Saxon heritage and the thought of going through Dracula’s castle on Halloween was enticing. The castles were interesting, and I wish we’d had more time in the town.
The bus picked me up around 7:45 not too far from the hotel and proceeded for the next 50 minutes to drive around and wait for the rest of the people on the tour. The driver, George, was excellent, though, and tried to take back roads to avoid the bottlenecked traffic and make up for some of the lost time. The drive took us through prairie like fields and then just before we arrived at Peles Castle around 11am into the mountains. Peles Castle is located in Sinaia, which has lots of well-known ski areas. Gondolas to the slopes were not far from the entrance to the royal ‘home’. This Castle was built by King Carol I of the Hohenzollerns as a summer residence in the late 1800s. It wasn’t finished until after he died and the final plans were adjusted by his nephew and heir, Ferdinand, and his wife Marie. The castle is in a dark heavy German Neo-Renaissance style, but structurally reminiscent of Burg Hohenzollern, which is on a hilltop about halfway between Stuttgart and Lake Constance. Throughout the building, the rooms are all in different styles representing the countries surrounding Romania, or with whom they had ties, e.g. France, Germany and Turkey. It was only after visiting this castle that I understood where Ceausescu got the idea for the ‘People’s Palace.’ He came here in the 1960s and wanted to move in, but was afraid that he would be poisoned through the air conditioning system so didn’t. From the beginning it had central heating, electricity, running water and telephones and after 1900 two electric elevators and a central vacuum system. The castle uses dark wood throughout and, even though it is magnificently carved, the dark is oppressive. The mirrors, chandeliers, vases etc. are all intricately designed and opulent is the word that best describes the decorative elements within the castle. The other members of the bus tour were ooing and aaing as we proceeded through the various rooms, and they were magnificent, but to me it was oppressively opulent.
This was not the case in Bran Castle.
Bran Castle was another two hours away on the bus due to traffic, but it would have been worse had not the driver taken a detour through some of the smaller villages to avoid a few of the bottlenecks. On the way we passed by another castle that was constructed around the same time as Peles by a different royal family. This one was in a light Mediterranean style and had a modern sculpture garden in front. To me, it was much more inviting than the former palace. The drive took us through some magnificent scenery. Shooting up from the winding river valley were tree covered mountains that were capped by stark sheer grey rock jagged peaks. The challenging Carpathians were displaying their natural beauty on a bright fall day.
When we arrived at Bran Castle, the line to get in was quite long – or so I thought. It didn’t take too long for the guide, Alex, to get the tickets, but there were at least a bus load and a half of people ahead of us getting into the castle. As there is only one door and people enter single file, it takes awhile for the hordes to get through. Contrary to popular belief, the castle was never used by Vlad Tepes (Dracula/the Impaler) as a residence, but as a place to mark his territory as it was a gate between the provinces of Wallachia and Transylvania. He was born in 1431 in Sighisoara, Transylvania as his father had been exiled from his home in Wallachia for a few years. As soon as the ruler, some say usurper, there passed away, the family returned to Wallachia. Not too long afterwards, the Ottomans demanded that a very young Vlad and his even younger brother be sent to Constantinople as part of the country’s tribute if the father wanted to remain king of Wallachia. The father’s name was Dracu – or fighter of dragons. When Vlad was a young man, his father died and he returned to Wallachia to take over as sovereign. The Ottomans assumed that the annual monetary tribute they received would continue as they had raised Vlad in their traditions, but a year after he returned, Vlad refused to send the funds. Mehmet II got his nose bent out of joint and brought his troops to the border. Vlad however, knew Turkish and was able to infiltrate the enemies ranks to learn their strategies. He burned everything that the Turkish army could use. He was able to overcome the Muslim troops and as punishment for attacking his realm, he impaled the captured army as he had earlier done with a couple of envoys. An alliance with Austro-Hungary was his downfall later on as the Hungarians were somewhat worried he would upset their international agreements. They were also worried about his mental health as he had a renown sadistic streak. They captured him, and put him in a royal prison in Hungary for 12 years. Somehow he negotiated his return, but when the Ottomans found out that Vlad was out of prison and on a hunting expedition, they then sent an army to kill him during the hunt. He supposedly died with multiple swords sticking out of his body, dying like a warrior king.
Bram Stoker, the author of Dracula, was never in Romania, he just took a couple of letters he found in the British Museum about Vlad Tepes and a story of a local princess who killed virgins so that she could bathe in their blood in order to keep her youthful appearance, and combined them into his remarkable novel. A description of Bran Castle in the letters seemed like the perfect setting for his fictional characters.
According to a document issued on Nov. 19th 1377 by the King of Poland and Hungary, Louis I of Anjou, Bran Castle was allowed to be built funded by the townspeople of Brasov. An earlier fort built by the Teutonic Knights in the 13th C had burnt down and the merchants wanted a fortress on the pass connecting Transylvania and Wallachia to protect trade between the two regions. The threat of an Ottoman invasion forced an alliance between them, which led to Bran fortress being controlled now and then by Wallachian princes, including Vlad Tepes grandfather, Mirceau cel Batran. In 1498 the fortress was officially given to the town of Brasov for their control and jurisdiction. By 1691 Transylvania was under Habsburg rule, and in 1706 they took control of the Bran Castle customshouse. The Habsburg Empire’s feudal crisis meant an increase in taxes for the townspeople and a replacement of the local men in the fortress garrison with Austrian soldiers. This led to a decline in revenue for all and subsequently of the castle itself. By 1918, the three provinces, Wallachia, Transylvania and Moldavia, were united into one Romanian nation, under King Ferdinand and his wife, Queen Marie. In gratitude for Queen Marie’s influence and help for her people, the Brasov town council gifted Bran Castle to her. She completely renovated and remodeled it, using it as her weekend home. She followed the pattern established at Peles, the official royal summer residence, of having each room outfitted in a different artistic and cultural style. She viewed Bran Castle as her favorite project and poured much love and attention into it. After she died, she willed it to her daughter Irene, who in turn gave it to her nieces and nephew who remain the owners while the government administers the property.
For Halloween, the staff had placed goblins, ghosts, and ghoulies throughout the castle accompanied by haunting sounds. Upon exiting the castle, which is similar to other medieval castles other than the furniture and decorations from Queen Marie’s time, I saw that the line had grown. It was now all the way down the hill, past the entrance gate, past the bazaar stalls, almost to the parking lot. It turned out we were very lucky with our wait in line! Mass tourism is alive and well at Bran Castle on Halloween. Trade on which the Castle folk and townspeople live is alive and well despite Covid.
The last stop of the day was in the medieval Saxon town of Brasov. Brasov, was founded in 1211 by the Teutonic Knights on orders from King of Hungary to protect the Hungarian border region. It sits in a bowl surrounded by hills, hence the town's other name, "Kronstadt," i.e., crown city. By the 1400s the city flourished with Saxon merchants. Bran Castle was a key element to their success as they could protect their border by letting those who came to trade in and at least try to prevent unwanted invaders from entering the region. Early in the 16th C. Luther’s teachings reached the Transylvanian Saxons and the former church dedicated to the Virgin Mary became a Protestant church. This structure, which is the largest Gothic building between Vienna and Istanbul, is now called the Black Church as it was scorched in a fire that engulfed large sections of the city in 1689 when the Habsburgs invaded. In the center of Old Town Brasov there are now Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Lutheran churches, which demonstrates the diversity within the Christian world to accommodate trade which has always been the mainstay of the local economy. There wasn’t much time to see the Old Town which, in addition to all the churches, has two small museums.The Old Town is visually delightful. The spacious and airy main square is surrounded by eateries and shops in houses that are painted all different pastel colors. It is a vibrant center and very pleasant. Outside of the Old Town, in the regular city, there is another art museum, but I didn’t have time to see that one as the bus was getting ready to leave for the long drive back to Bucharest. The bus didn’t make it back to the city until almost 10:30. It was a long day for the group, but a longer one for both Alex and George. It also reminded me of why I prefer to tour on my own or with just a couple of people. Nonetheless, this tour did provide insights into some of the key figures in Romanian history including Vlad Tepes, and the royal line starting with Carol I in the late 1880s. That helped to put some of the buildings in Old Town Bucharest and along the Victory Way into an historical context. The information for much of what is written in this blog comes from the plaque descriptions in the two castles.
Just a side note on COVID: there were checks at all hotels and restaurants and everyone wore a mask both inside and outdoors all the time. The crowds in the castles were disconcerting as social distancing was a bit of a problem. On the bus, we could sit where we wanted and some people bunched up, others tried to keep their distance.
I was supposed to fly to Sofia today, but when I got to the airport they said that Romania is now listed as red and Bulgaria requires a PCR test, which they hadn’t a few days ago. Qatar Air was good and changed my flight to tomorrow for a fee. I think the ghoulies are still out and about for Halloween. (on the other hand, I finally got these blogs written)
