Classroom lesson · Bran Castle · 🇷🇴 Romania

Bran Castle

A real medieval castle on a rock - with a famous legend attached

Photo · Wikimedia Commons

What is it?

Bran Castle sits on a tall rock at the edge of the Carpathian mountains. It is a real medieval castle, built more than 600 years ago. People sometimes call it 'Dracula's Castle' because the writer Bram Stoker imagined a famous spooky character living in a castle like it - but the real castle has its own much older story.

Tell me more

The castle was built in 1377 as a fortress to guard the road through a narrow mountain pass. From its high windows, guards could see anyone coming up the valley from a long way off. It has thick stone walls, a deep well, a secret tunnel and tiny twisty staircases.

Later, Bran Castle became a royal home. Queen Marie of Romania lived there in the 1920s and loved it - she filled it with flowers, paintings and soft furniture, turning the stern grey fortress into a warm royal house. You can still walk through her bedroom today.

The 'Dracula' nickname comes from an Irish writer called Bram Stoker, who wrote a novel about a mysterious count from Transylvania - the part of Romania where Bran Castle stands. Stoker had never visited Romania himself; he just liked the name and the wild forests. Romanians have lived with the nickname for over a century and turned it into a friendly bit of fun for visitors.

Today, the castle is a museum. Around half a million people visit every year. The most fun part for most kids is climbing the narrow stone stairs from floor to floor and looking out over the forest the same way the medieval guards once did.

In the classroom

Walk your class through this in 15 minutes.

Talk together

Discussion prompts

  1. 01Why was building castles on top of high rocks such a common idea hundreds of years ago?
  2. 02How would you turn a draughty stone fortress into a comfortable home? What would you change?
  3. 03Lots of real places end up famous because of a story someone wrote. Can you think of other examples?
Try this

Classroom activity

Design your own medieval mountain castle on A3. Mark: the gate, the watchtower, the well, the kitchen, the great hall, a secret tunnel. Then add the room you would choose as yours, and explain why.