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| Places
of interest - Transylvania |
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Bran Castle
Situated at 30 Km from Brasov, between the Bucegi and Piatra
Craiului Mountains, Bran Castle is an important national monument
and landmark of the Romanian tourism, due not only to the beauty
of the Castle and the landscape but also to the legend of Count
Dracula.
The first documentary testimony of the Bran Castle is the act
issued on November 19, 1377, by Ludovic I D'Anjou giving the
inhabitants of Brasov the privilege to build the Citadel "on
their own work and expense". In exchange of this privilege,
the king confirmed the subordination of 13 localities to Brasov
town and conferred the leadership of Bran Fortress to a lord
of a castle who had also jurisdictional attributions. The permanent
garrison was numerically restrained to 12-24 soldiers: archers
and ballisters. Between the years 1419-1424 the Fortress returned
in Sigismund's possession.
At the end of the XV-th century, the Bran Fortress was subordinated
to the authority of the Szeklers Committee, responsible for
the defense of the South-East of Transylvania, and since the
reign of Iancu of Hunedoara, the Fortress passed under the rule
of the Voivode of Transylvania.
On 1st December 1920, the Brasov city council donated the Bran
Castle to Queen Mary of Romania, as a symbol of gratitude for
her contribution to the achievement of the "Great Union"
of 1 December 1918.
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Between 1920-1927, the Bran Castle was restored under the guidance
of the Royal Court architect, Carol Liman. He transformed it into
a beautiful summer residence, surrounded with a park, fountains,
a lake, walking alleys and halt terraces and built the "Tea
House" Of Queen Mary. In 1938 Queen Mary left with will the
Bran Castle to her daughter, Princess Ileana.
After the exile of the royal family in 1948, the Bran Castle became
the property of the Romanian State, being abandoned and ravaged
for a period. Since 1956 the Castle was opened as a museum of history
and feudal art. Being in a serious degradation, a new restoration
process of the Castle started in 1987. The repair, by and large
was finished in 1993.
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