Dracula: History and Myth

My Visit to Castle Poenari — part 4

[Part 1|Part 2|Part 3|Part 4] This is part 4 of 4. See part 3 here. Graffiti near the top of the castle. I didn’t deface any of the walls myself, but I did pry a tiny gray rock out of the ground on the main path leading into the castle, to keep as a souvenir. I realized a few days later as I was flying back to Paris from Bratislava that I was flying on…Continue Reading →

My Visit to Castle Poenari — part 3

[Part 1|Part 2|Part 3|Part 4] This is part 3 of 4. See part 2 here. Here’s me actually in the archway of the tower. I sent my best friend Ben a text message from right here simply saying “I AM IN DRACULA’S FREAKING CASTLE,” and then I realized it was 6am at his place in Philadelphia; oops! A look at the castle wall from the far end. A little background about the place: Apparently there…Continue Reading →

My Visit to Castle Poenari — part 2

[Part 1|Part 2|Part 3|Part 4] This is part 2 of 4. See part 1 here. Like I mentioned above, a big part of the castle was destroyed in an earthquake in 1888. I believe the gray stones on the left are from the original walls, and the red bricks on the right are part of the reconstruction, but I can’t be sure this is correct. Here’s the view down the other side. They’ve installed walkways…Continue Reading →

My Visit to Castle Poenari — part 1

[Part 1|Part 2|Part 3|Part 4] OCTOBER 2006: I traveled to Romania for my second time to see a number of things I wasn’t able to the first time, the most important of which (to me) was Castle Poenari — the real Dracula’s castle. Visiting Vlad Tepes’ real castle was a lifelong dream of mine, and it was pretty mindblowing to finally see it with my own eyes. I’ve included a lot of information about getting…Continue Reading →

About Dracula: History and Myth

About this site A while back I noticed that my section on my personal website devoted to my visit to Castle Poenari — the real Dracula’s castle had become by far the most popular feature on the site, so I decided to create this blog — Dracula: History and Myth — as a more comprehensive place for all my information and photos about the castle and my experiences traveling in Romania. I’ve been a huge…Continue Reading →