My Visit to Castle Poenari — Dracula's CastleMore information on Castle Poenari and the historical DraculaVideosI used the video feature of my digital camera for just about the first time ever while I was at the top of the castle, to try to document a little bit about the layout and size of the place. I generally can't stand seeing tourists taking video of their vacations, whether it's in museums or in front of monuments or whatever, so I felt a little like a hypocrite taking these, but I rationalized my decision by deciding that this is exactly the kind of stuff I would've been really happy to find when I was doing my own research about the castle and how to find it. So here they are! The first one (5.8mb) is a video showing the entrance into the tower archway, the room below, and the open ceiling above, and the second (3.7mb) is a look around from the highest point of the castle. It's really high up; listen to that wind up there. More info about Castle Poenari and the historical DraculaThe Wikipedia articles about Vlad Tepes and Castle Poenari are pretty cool, particularly the Vlad one. Another noteworthy bit of information I picked up in wandering around Romania, which is useful if you're going there: the castle name is pronounced something like "po-ee-NAR"; in the Romanian language, an "i" at the end of a word is (almost?) always silent. The last "r" is a bit rolled, like in Spanish, but due to my years in France I've spent too much time learning to pronounce the French "r" and I can't do the Spanish one at all. My favorite article about PoenariAt the time I started researching my trip, one of the very few existing webpages about Castle Poenari was this fantastic article called A Night in Dracula's Castle, by an American journalist who spent the night alone in Castle Poenari a few years before it became a somewhat-known tourist attraction. It's a great story, and it really inspired me to get serious about making the trip myself! The area where he talks about sleeping is certainly the tower archway, as it's the only part of the castle that has any kind of covering at all. It was amazing to stand in that spot myself and imagine trying to survive a whole night there with the wolves, bears, and vampires. Vlad Tepes documentaryI recently ran across this great documentary about the historical Dracula on YouTube. There are a few really cool shots of Castle Poenari in the snow. I was there in October, near Halloween, when it was chilly and a bit cloudy, but I'd love to see the place in wintertime like that. The documentary also tells some of my favorite weird stories about Dracula, like how he used to keep a golden chalice in the town square of each of his cities, which no one ever stole because all of his subjects were all so terrified of him. I love that stuff. Check it out: Part one, part two, part three. Bran Castle — "the other Dracula's Castle"I've never visited Bran Castle myself, but I frequently receive questions about it. Bran Castle is "the other Dracula's Castle" — it's a much more beautiful and well-maintained castle, and it's a much more popular tourist destination than Poenari, but in fact it has very little to do with Vlad Tepes. Check out the Wikipedia page on Bran Castle for more information — "While Vlad Tepes did not actually live in the Bran Castle, it is believed he spent two days locked in the dungeon while the Ottomans controlled Transylvania." German Stories About DraculaCheck out this page of German Stories About Dracula, a collection of delightful and probably apocryphal stories about Vlad Tepes, the historical Dracula, and his legendary fearsomeness and cruelty.
Good luck, safe travels, and don't forget your cross and your garlic!
— Manning Leonard Krull
Next: Check out my photo galleries from the Transylvanian towns of Curtea de Arges, Sibiu, and Cluj-Napoca, and my first trip to Romania. Other stuff
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