About iDracula.
About iDracula
iDracula About iDracula
For the sake of the nation and the country, iDracula Restaurant, Club & Hotel, is structuring a project through which its clients, both Romanian and foreign, will deepen the history of this nation and of these places.
The military beginnings of the Bran area are under the banner of the Teutonic Knights, "Ordo domus Sanctae Mariae Theutonicorum Hierosolimitanorum", a religious order established by the German crusaders in Palestine, and they received from King Andrew II of Hungary (1205-1235) (Barsa Country) Terra Borza or Burzenland - a district named after the Cuman tribe of the burks). The gift aims at establishing Teutons in the region and defending the southeastern border of Transylvania from the Cumans and Pechenegs. The Teutons erected a fortress at Bran but in 1226 they were expelled from the region.
On November 19, 1377, the chancellor of the Hungarian king Ludovic de Anjou - issues an act granting the inhabitants of Brașov (Kronstadt - Crown City) the privilege of building a castle. This document urges Saxons (Sachsen - a population of German origin who came to Transylvania in the 12th century) from the entire region of Brasov to participate in the construction of Bran Castle, originally called Dietrichstein or Törzburg in German, Törcsvár in Hungarian and Turkish in Romanian.
In 1388 the construction of the castle is completed. It is located on the steep rock between Măgura and Dealul Cetăţii and has an exceptional view of the neighboring hills, the Moeciu valley and the Bârsei Country. The castle has both the role of customs - it retains 3% of the value of goods entering and leaving Transylvania, as well as the fortress on the eastern border of Transylvania, intended to stop the expansion of the Ottoman Empire. He is inhabited by soldiers, by profession mercenaries. The columnist Ioan de Tîrnava also recalls the "15th century British brigands and ballists". The Castilian of Bran is chosen by the king, usually among the Saxons. In the history of Transylvania its role will be more and more important, so that at the end of the fifteenth century the castle commander comes to hold the title of vice-voivode of Transylvania. Sigismund of Luxembourg gives the castle as a feud in 1407 (property offered in exchange for loyalty) to his ally, Mircea cel Bătrân, in order to withdraw here in case of attack by the Turks.
In 1419, after the cessation of the voivode's life, the political instability in the Romanian Country caused Sigismund to take over the castle and entrust it to the princes of Transylvania. The Turks undertake an incursion into Transylvania, but Iancu de Hunedoara defeats them at Bran in 1441. Iancu needs the support of the Saxons at the border and reinforces the privileges granted to the inhabitants of Brașov by Mircea cel Bătrân and Sigismund. Vlad Tepes, allied with the principles of Transylvania with anti-Ottoman resistance at the border, is allied with Bran and Brasov during his first reign (1436 - 1442) and during the period up to the second reign.
However, at the beginning of 1459, during the second reign (1456 - 1462), his army passed through Bran and attacked Brasov to resolve a conflict between the ruler of the Romanian Country and the Saxons demanding higher customs duties and he they were supporting his opponent to the throne. Vlad Tepes burns the suburbs of the city and kills hundreds of Saxons, causing the Saxon community to take revenge and to paint him in later chronicles as an extremely bloody tyrant. On January 1, 1498 the Saxons of Brașov give 1000 florins and buy from King Vladislav II Jagello, who has the war emptied war, the right to use the castle for 10 years. The Brașovians also take the good customs of the castle. On April 25, 1651, after having already extended several times with the principles of Transylvania (even after the Ottoman conquest of the Hungarian kingdom from 1541) the contracts of use of the Bran castle, the Brașovians manage to conclude with the prince Gheorghe Rackoczi II a sale-purchase act of the castle. Although Transylvania becomes part of the Habsburg Empire since 1687, the Leopoldine Diploma reconfirms the privileges offered by the principles of Transylvania, including the sale of the castle in 1651. The renovation of the castle's northern tower is completed, as mentioned in an inscription. The construction had suffered over time many damage often caused by sieges, but also by negligence or by phenomena of nature. Thus history records in 1593 an explosion of dust, and in 1617 a powerful storm, which destroyed the roofs. Reconstruction work was also carried out during the reign of Gabriel Bethlen (1613 - 1629), when the gate tower, the round tower and the dungeon were restored.
After the border between Transylvania and Wallachia moves into the mountains, at Pajura, Bran Castle loses its military and commercial importance. Bran ceases to be the border and customs point of Austro-Hungary, the fortress continues to perform an administrative function.The imperial authorities accept at the insistence of the Brasovians to repair between 1883 and 1886 the damage done over time and carry out extensive restoration work. The administration of Brasov cedes the castle of the regional forest district. For 30 years the prestige of the castle decreases. Until 1918 he was inhabited by forest brigadiers, foresters and forest inspectors from Brașov. In 1918 Transylvania becomes part of Greater Romania. On December 1, 1920, the citizens of Brașov offer the castle, following a unanimous decision of the city council led by the mayor Karl Schnell, Queen Mary of Romania, described in the document as a "great queen, who (...) spreads blessing everywhere she walks, thus conquering the hearts of the population of the whole country. ”The castle becomes the favorite residence of Queen Maria, she will restore it and arrange it to be used as the residence of the royal family. From 1920 until this year the castle is transformed into a royal residence by summer. The works are coordinated by the Czech architect Karel Liman, the same one who designed the Peleș and Pelișor castles. The castle fountain, 57 meters deep, does not provide enough water, so it is obtained by adduction from natural springs located along the valley.
In 1932, during the course of the Turcu stream, a hydroelectric power station is built, which allows the castle to be illuminated. Bran, Shimon and Moeciu are also connected to it. The grateful residents thank Queen Mary, to whom she refers: The land around the castle is transformed into an English park with two ponds and a Tea House. In order to make it easier for the arthritis sufferer to walk along the road between the castle and the park, a lift is installed. Other constructions such as a guest house, a wooden church, staff housing, stables and garages are set up. Queen Maria goes out from life on July 18. According to the will written on June 29, 1933 in Balchik, Bran Castle is left to the favorite daughter of the queen, Princess Ileana, from 1931, married to Archduke Anton of Austria. Archduke Ileana continues the plans for the development of the castle. After the Vienna Dictatorship and the loss by Romania of the South Danube territories, the heart of Queen Mary is brought from the Stella Maris chapel of the Balchic castle, located on the Black Sea shore, at Bran. The sarcophagus containing the queen's heart is deposited in the crypt of a chapel dug in the rock beyond the castle valley. Since the queen's death, her heart has been kept in a silver box, also housed in a box adorned with precious stones, wrapped in the flags of Romania and native England and placed in a marble sarcophagus. Princess Ileana builds a hospital in Bran, which she calls "Queen's Heart".
It is intended for the care of the injured military in Brasov. The Red Cross hospital here was bombed by American aviation. After 1945 the hospital continues to treat people injured and mutilated during the war and the population of the region. Princess Ileana herself, as a nurse, cares for patients. She continued this activity, with great efforts, until January 1948.
The newly installed Communist government forces Princess Ileana to leave the country with her family. Authorities transform Bran Castle into a museum with three departments: the castle itself with pieces of royal family heritage, the medieval customs and the ethnography section, including traditional houses in the park next to the castle. In September 1990, Princess Ileana, who dedicated herself to the monastic life and became Mother Alexandra since 1961, visits Bran Castle. Here he finds the deterioration of buildings and the disappearance of some of the interwar structures. She died shortly afterwards, on January 21, 1991, and is buried in the Orthodox monastery she founded and formerly the abbot - the Orthodox Monastery of Transfiguration - in the American city of Elwood. In her grave there is also a box of dust taken in exile from the foot of Bran Castle.
In 1993 the works of restoration of the castle begun in 1987. The castle reopens as a museum and re-enters the tourist circuit.