Vlad the Impaler - the real Dracula

 Vlad the Impaler was one of the most important rulers and a national hero of Romania. In Romanian his name is Vlad Tepes. He was also known as Vlad III and Vlad Dracula. However the name Dracula in this context is nothing to do with the vampire Count Dracula, but comes from the family name Dracul, and Dracula means son of Dracul. 

Vlad III was born in 1431 in Sighișoara, in the region of Transylvania. He was prince of Walachia, which is now in Romania. He became a Voivode (military governor, or prince) of Walachia and gained notoriety because of his cruel methods of punishing his enemies. He died 1476, north of present-day Bucharest.

A portrait of Vlad III -

His father and elder brother were assassinated at the hands of Walachian nobles in 1447. He embarked on a series  of lifelong campaigns to regain his father’s seat. After he claimed the viovodate, he earned  the name Vlad the Impaler due to his atrocities of impaling his enemies on stakes in the ground and leaving them to die. He inflicted this type of torture on all enemies alike. He supposedly retreated from a battle in 1462 leaving a field filled with thousands of impaled victims as a deterrent to pursuing Ottoman forces.

He was against the Ottomans. He was killed in a battle in 1476 and became a hero due to his efforts against Ottoman encroachment. 

Vlad in Bran Castle -

Whilst in Sighișoara, we went to the house where Vlad was born. We were told we would see the actual room in which he was born. Sighișoara is a well preserved fortified medieval town up on a hill, and is a UNESCO World Heritage site. It was founded by German craftsmen and merchants known as the Saxons of Transylvania.

 

The ground floor is now a shop and the first floor is a bar and Restaurant Casa Vlad Dracul. 

The room where Vlad was born is upstairs on the second floor and I was expecting something historical. Instead it was like a haunted house from an amusement park. Entry was 10 lei (just under £2). As people climbed the dark narrow stairs, the barman let a large toy spider drop on unsuspecting heads. The actual room is really dark and full of "scary" Dracula creatures -

It is thought that Bram Stoker in his book "Dracula"  may have based the title character of Dracula on Vlad Tepes. See my blog on Bran Castle aka Dracula's Castle.