Some years ago I was watching the World's most haunted places on the Discovery Channel. The Discovery team was hunkered down inside the Poenari Castle (or the Poienari Castle), Dracula's real castle (as opposed to the more famous Bran Castle which he may never have visited). The atmosphere was tense. This was the place where scores of people had been tortured and worked to death under the supervision of the world most notorious vampire, Vlad III Tepes, also called Vlad the Impaler, or Vlad Draculea, or just Dracula. It was 2AM in the morning when they saw a couple of red lights climbing up the hill towards the castle. The red lights moved in what seemed to be impossible paths and they could not see anything that possibly could cause the lights. They filmed the lights, and the TV audience could see it, and so did I, but the Discovery team could not explain it, not even using all the other instruments and infra red cameras that they had brought with them. If someone tried to pull a trick on them, it was a good one. The Discovery team members were far from superstitious but they panicked and ran out of the Poenari Castle screaming and swearing, running for their lives. It was the only time during "the world's most haunted places" series that the Discovery team fled from one of the haunted places they were supposed to investigate.

Then we visited the Poenari Castle in August of 2008. Well it was day time. This is one place where I would not like to be in the middle of the night, even though I don't believe in ghosts or vampires.

My son and I were in Romania in July/August of 2008 with the water polo team he used to be part of. My son played water polo for St. Marks School of Texas in Dallas, and the coach, Mihai, is a Romanian native, a proud Dacian, and a former member of the Romanian Olympic water polo team. Mihai organized this trip for the kids to give them some international water polo experience and also as a pleasure trip. Mihai needed two parent volunteers, and one of them turned out to be me, and the other gentleman was a fun, and smart guy, with the name Jim. Mihai did a wonderful job making Romania's history and culture come alive. Romania's past is very tumultuous and he was very much part of it. Because of the kids we ended up doing a lot of things Dracula. We visited Dracula's grave at the Snagov monastery, drank from Dracula's well, visited Dracula's birthplace in Sighisoara, and stayed at Casa Cu Cerb, the Bran Castle, and the Poenari Castle.


About Dracula

Vlad III (1431 - 1476), Prince of Wallachia, is more commonly known as Vlad the Impaler. Vlad III is the real life character behind the fictional character Dracula in Bram Stoker's famous novel Dracula. He was born in Sighisoara in Transylvania, and he was the ruler (voivod) of Wallachia for some time. He died nearby Bucharest. He was called Vlad the Impaler because impalement was his preferred method of torture and execution. To the Romanians he is mostly known for his successful defense of Wallachia against Ottoman expansionism. Despite his famed cruelty, Vlad III is often revered by the Romanians.
In case you didn't know; when you impale somebody you stick a semi sharp pole through the buttocks of the person and through his innards, slowly. The pole travels through the body either because the impaled person is sitting on it, or because one or more horses are pulling the pole through the impaled individual's body. An exception was when babies were impaled. Babies were usually impaled on the same pole as the mother through the chest.

When the Sultan Mehmed invaded Wallachia with 150,000 men he was greeted by the sight of 20,000 impaled Turkish prisoners. This resulted in the Ottoman invaders becoming demoralized. It should be noted that Vlad III learned the technique from the Ottoman's when he as a child was held prisoner by the Ottomans. Dracula kept, not only Wallachia and Transylvania out of trouble, but in the extension all of Europe, at the same time as he was a cruel despot.

It should be noted that Vlad III also used the impaling technique against others. When he came to power, Vlad immediately had all the nobles (boyars) arrested and he subsequently impaled the older boyars and their families on the spot. The younger boyars were forced to work themselves to death while re-building the Poenari Castle. What Vlad III is most famously known for, he was most certainly not. It was Bram Stoker who turned him into a vampire.


About the Poenari Castle

The Bran Castle is widely known as Dracula's Castle; however, Dracula's real castle is the Poenari Castle. Dracula or Vlad III Tepes renovated the Poenari Castle using former nobility (Boyars) as slave labor. The Poenari Castle is located on top of a hill near the Arges River on the border between Wallachia and Transylvania. It is close to the Transfagarasan Mountains or the Transylvanian Alps as they are also called, and it is not far from the Transfagarasan high way. The Castle was built already in the 13th century; however, it would later be abandoned and left in ruins. In the 15th century Vlad III the Impaler repaired the castle realizing the potential for a castle high up on a steep precipice of rock. Vlad III the Impaler made the Poenari Castle into one of his main fortresses. It would eventually be abandoned again, and it was partially destroyed in an earthquake in 1888. However, a considerable part of the Castle still remains and it has been partially restored.


Our visit to the Poenari Castle

The Poenari Castle does not get many visitors and most of them are Romanian natives. The reason for this is that most visitors to Romania have never heard of the Poenari Castle and it is difficult to get to it. The Romanians themselves are not as fascinated by the Dracula myth as western visitors; however, they sometimes visit the Poenari Castle because it is an important part of the Romanian history. You have to climb 1,500 steps up the steep hill side to reach the castle and this is not a climb for those who are in bad shape. Most of the steps are made from concrete and they are not small steps. However, the stairway is fitted with handrails which is helpful. The stairway is winding through thick forest along the hillside. Mihai, Jim, and I, and all the kids walked up to steps to the castle, and it took us about one hour to reach the castle. At the top there was a small office with an attendant asking for two lei (75 cents) for the entrance fee to the Castle.

We walked through the ruins, read the signs, and looked down into the torture dungeon where scores of people had been tortured to death. This was a place with a grim and deadly past. However, the view was astounding. We were high up and we could see far into the Transylvanian Alps and we could see the tiny Arges River flowing below us as well as the Transfagarasan high way. While we were up there another group came through, however, a good portion of the time we spent in the Poenari Castle we were alone. This was very different from the Bran Castle which had hundred's of visitors at the time we visited.

Staying at the Poenari Castle one hour was good enough. It was an interesting place but not that much to see. It was a very cool place to visit, and it was well worth the drive, the climb and the 75 cents. I think the Poenari Castle was more interesting than the Bran Castle because it was the "real thing", and it had a special spooky and lonely ambiance to it, and it was not crowded. The way down was a lot quicker and easier than the way up, especially if you slid down on the handrails as some of the kids did. In addition to visiting the castle we got the opportunity to see a beautiful forest and a beautiful view and we also got some needed exercise.


Final recommendation

The Bran Castle was fun to visit; however, I feel that visiting the real thing is more interesting. The Poenari Castle has not been exploited yet and there is not much prepared for potential tourists which is both good and bad. The bad thing is that there is nothing there except some ruins; however, this is also what makes the Poenari Castle charming. If you visit Transylvania and you are somewhat interested in the Dracula myth, then you must visit the Poenari Castle, more so than the Bran Castle.


Click on the items below to see other Romanian tourist destinations I've reviewed


The Bran Castle

Palace of the Parliament

Sighisoara (the vampire capital of the world)

Brasov

Bucharest

Romania


Thank you Chris (cr01) for adding this entry.

Recommended: Yes

Best Suited For: Families
Best Time to Travel Here: Jun - Aug