Posted on 01/20/2007 10:18:39 AM PST by lizol
Dracula's castle on sale for 60 mln euros
Bucharest (ANTARA News) - Bran Castle, better known as Dracula's Castle, has been put up for sale for 60 million euros (75.6 million dollars) and local authorities in Romania are considering buying it, officials said Wednesday.
"Bran Castle is very important for our province's tourism industry. We have set up a commission with five members of the council that will examine the possibility of buying it," Aristotel Cancescu, president of Brasov province's council, was quoted by AFP as saying.
The castle was returned in December 2006 to Dominic Habsburg, the grandson of Queen Mary of Romania, 58 years after it was seized by the communist regime.
Habsburg, 68, initially agreed with the culture ministry that the castle would remain a museum for at least three years and could only be sold to the state.
But the same month, Habsburg announced he was going to sell the castle anyway and he submitted a letter of intent to the Brasov council.
Culture Minister Adrian Iorgulescu said Habsburg's asking price was "indecent and exaggerated compared to the castle's real value."
Before it was returned, the ministry estimated the estate was worth some 25 million euros.
The castle, which was built in 1212 by the Teutonic Knights, once belonged to the cruel 15th-century prince Vlad Tepes, who notoriously impaled his victims and inspired the character of Dracula in Bram Stoker's novels.
Given in 1920 by the people of Brasov to Queen Mary, who turned it into her summer residence, the castle remains a vital attraction for Brasov's tourism industry.
Apart from the castle, the estate includes three smaller buildings and an art collection. (*)
I saw the same show on the History Channel the other night.
Ya gotta give it to Ol Vlad. He knew how to deal with the Muslims. In the end, even he had to give it up.
Dracula means the "Son of the Dragon" I wonder how nasty his Ol man was. He was nasty because he was actually born into a poverty after they stripped authority from the family. So he went on his own personal crusade and gained it all back with vigor.
Nasty? I dunno, it seems as if they were all nasty back then if you dig into the history of the nobility in Europe and Russia..et al. Ivan the Terrible comes to mind.
BUMP!
Much of the information we have about Vlad III Þepeº comes from pamphlets published in the Holy Roman Empire and chronicles written in Muscovy. The first known German pamphlet dates from 1488 and it is possible that some were printed during Vlad’s lifetime.At least initially, they may have been politically inspired. At that time Matthias Corvinus of Hungary was seeking to bolster his own reputation in the Empire and may have intended the early pamphlets as justification of his less than vigorous support of his vassal.
The pamphlets were also a form of mass entertainment in a society where the printing press was just coming into widespread use. Much like the subject matter of the supermarket tabloids of today, the cruel life of the Wallachian tyrant was easily sensationalized.
The pamphlets were reprinted numerous times over the thirty or so years following Vlad's death -- strong proof of their popularity. The German pamphlets painted Vlad Þepeº as an inhuman monster who terrorized the land and butchered innocents with sadistic glee.
The Russian pamphlets took a somewhat different view. The princes of Muscovy were at the time just beginning to build the basis of what would become the autocracy of the tsars. They were also having considerable trouble with disloyal, often troublesome boyars. In Muscovy, Vlad was presented as a cruel but just prince whose actions were directed toward the greater good of his people.
Despite the differences in interpretation, the pamphlets, regardless of their land of origin, agree remarkably well as to specifics. The level of agreement has led most historians to conclude that at least the broad outlines of the events covered actually occurred.
It's tough to get to the truth about events that occurred over 500 years ago, but- when multiple sources from a time when torture was common agree that Vlad was, shall we say, rather strict- then you can bet there was a basis for the stories.
Vlad Tepes means "Vlad the Impaler" by the way.
Much like the subject matter of the supermarket tabloids of today, the cruel life of the Wallachian tyrant was easily sensationalized.
Just as I thought.
Yes, I know he impaled many. But I thought it was mostly Muslims. Like I said, I haven't read many original sources; I hope to get around to it as I read more about the era of the fall of Constantinople, the period in which Vlad lived.
Think of Churchill and Bush.
"That bites. Although the upkeep must be a cross to bear, I'd gravely consider selling it. The family must not have much stake in their history."
Your humor is getting a little long in the tooth, but there's only one fang I can do. Grin and bare it.
He got back at them by impaling a few and working the others literally until their clothing fell off in construction of one of his castles, perhaps the one in the picture here. He deliberately overpaid a merchant by a single coin one time and when the merchant told him he replied that he knew it and if the merchant hadn't told him he would have had him impaled. One result of his law 'n' order campaign was that it was said that a virgin could ride naked and with a sack of gold across his entire country unmolested.
And you thought Giuliani was tough...
" asking price was "indecent and exaggerated compared to the castle's real value.""
capitalism = free trade = my product is worth what I can get for it.
socialism = fair trade = my product is worth the work I put into it.
"If I were rich I'd love to buy it and live there. I'd want television, fast internet, and cell phone service. Surely nowadays all that is possible there. I'd love to be in there."
Believe me, it's all possible. Been there. Internet cafes are around the corner, fully equipped hotels a block away, satellite dishes everywhere...and they get better cell phone signals in the countryside than we do.
Interesting article. I'd buy it if I had the money, LOL
Very cool I want a room with a view........ also a ghost would be good. ;9)
And can you imagine saying "have a good sleep" there? :-)))
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