When I read Dracula, I was vaguely aware that Bram Stoker had found inspiration for his main character in a real man, Vlad the Impaler. After having traveled to Romania two times – 2011 and 2013 -, I became more and more interested in this man with his formidable surname. I started reading about him on the Internet, especially on Wikipedia, where you can find his detailed biography.
What really pushed us to follow Vlad the Impaler in his footsteps, was this video:
I saw it on YouTube about 18 months ago, when I suffered from the beginning of my depression. In order to keep myself busy, I watched several videos about the paranormal; I have always been intrigued by ghosts and YouTube proved to be a huge source of serious and less serious videos about anything paranormal. That’s how I discovered Ghost Adventures, a program that runs on the American Travel Channel, about 3 – 4 men traveling around America, exploring haunted buildings and towns. For their Halloween specials, they sometimes travel to Europe as well.
In this particular episode they traveled to Romania, with a double mission. First, they visited the Hoia Baciu forest, the most haunted forest in the world. We did that too, and in a later post you will find out if we think that this place is haunted or not. Anyway, the crew of Ghost Adventures also visited places that are connected to Vlad the Impaler, from his birth to his death. Lars and I decided to copy their route, but added 2 other places to the itinerary, that had not been featured in the show. But more about that later.
The journey starts in Sighișoara, where Vlad the Impaler was born in 1431. At that time the town actually belonged to Hungary. In the same year that Vlad was born, his father became a member of the Order of the Dragon, who defended Christendom against a.o. the Ottoman empire. Vlad the Impaler would later become himself a member of the same order, thus gaining the surname of Dracul. This is where Bram Stoker found the name of his main character.
Vlad and his brother Radu spent their childhood years in Sighișoara. Lars and I had paid the town a short visit in the summer of 2013; you can read about it here and here. Somehow, we failed to have a look in the house where Vlad was born, so we had a very good reason to come back. In May 2015, we actually did, visiting Sighișoara twice. Why twice? Our first visit was cut short by a thunderstorm.
We were lucky enough to find a parking spot not far from one of Sighișoara’s important sights, the Clock Tower. The house where Vlad was born is just a couple of meters away.
The current owners claim that you can actually visit the room where Vlad was born. This is not true, because the interior of the building has undergone several renovations. The place is however worth a visit; the inside is beautifully decorated and the restaurant serves delicious food at very reasonable prices.
After our meal, Lars and I wanted to do a bit more of exploring, but a thunderstorm chased us back to the car. These are the last pictures I took that day.
Two days later, we came back and discovered this pretty, nearby square. We couldn’t resist the temptation and decided to have dinner here.
We concluded our second visit with a stroll through some of the streets of Sighișoara, including a visit to a local church.
Want to visit Sighișoara as well? 2 – 3 days should be enough to visit the main sights of this town (like the Citadel, which we didn’t visit) and its surroundings. Sighișoara has an excellent tourist information office, opposite the house where Vlad was born.