Imran Abdullah - Al Jazeera Net
The historic Castle of Transylvania - an inspiration for the Dracula horror film and the famous Bram Stoker - is still a list today.
Although some historians have questioned the Count Vlad's relationship to the historical fortress known as the Bran Castle in Transylvania, the new discoveries and radar surveys of the Earth under another castle structure revealed what went on beneath the luxury façade of the building frequented by tourists. But what is underneath?
In the fifteenth century, it was believed that the blood-thirsty blood prince Vlad III - Prince and Lacia - was imprisoned in that castle also known as "Corvin" by the Hungarian ruler John Hunaydi, who oversaw the first expansion of the castle.
According to Roman sources, there were two expansions of the castle in the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries, in continuation of Hunyadi's efforts. So the building is a mixture of construction from different periods, says the head of the research team, Isabel Morris.
The structure and construction were the subject of many excavations. But sitemaps are inconsistent, and many archaeological records are missing, posing challenges for the scientists who are exploring the castle today. That's why the research team chose ground penetrating radar (GPR) to conduct their surveys.
Morris told Life Science that the surveys helped researchers identify an administrative complex built during the 17th century. The radar revealed places where portions of the castle were built with natural rock supported by man-made structures.
Among the rooms that have already been rebuilt in the depths of the castle is a torture room (a model of a victim was found suspended and suspended from the ceiling), but it is not known whether this dark room was hosted by the family of the "flute" Vlad.
Tourists visiting the Transylvania Castle are said to be the place where Vlad III (Getty Images) |
Legend of the castle and the Turkish prisoners
Tourists visiting the Citadel are said to be the place where Vlad III was held by John Hunaydi, the Hungarian military commander and guardian during the absence of the king.
Later, Vlad III entered a political alliance with Hunyadi, although the latter was responsible for the execution of his father, Vlad II. Because of this legend, the castle is sometimes cited as a source of inspiration for Dracula's castle in the novel "Dracula's Horror" by Abram Stoker.
But in fact, Stoker did not know about the alliance of Vlad with Hunyadi, nor about the Castle, which also bears the name of "Hunyadi Castle." The notes of the Irish novelist confirm that Dracula's fortress is at the top of Transylvania.
In the castle square near the 15th century church, there are deep pits up to 30 meters. According to legend, this fountain was drilled by three Turkish prisoners who promised freedom if they reached the water. Fifteen years later they completed the well, but their captors did not fulfill their promise.
The inscription on the wall of the well is said to mean "you have water, but you do not have the spirit." But the specialists translated the inscription as "Hassan is one of the books of this inscription, and he lives as slaves of the infidels, in the castle near the church."
Irish novelist Bram Stoker woven the character of the famous vampire Dracula inspired by the bloody biography of Vlad III (Getty Images) |
Vlad the Terrible and his war with the Ottomans
Vlad - the famous "Dracula" - the Principality of Wakia was ruled several times in the middle of the fifteenth century, the period of the Ottoman campaigns towards the Balkans, and the establishment of the Holy Roman Emperor's alliance with the kings and princes of Christian Europe to stop the Ottoman tide in Eastern Europe.
And the title of Vlad III by the steeple because of his distinctive style in the killing and torture, as he was killing the prisoners of his enemies Balzazouk, and so famous in history brutality.
Irish novelist Bram Stoker portrayed Dracula - the famous vampire - inspired by the bloody biography of Vlad III.
Unlike the Transylvania castle in Romania, tourists can visit the castle of Tupat in northern Turkey, where archaeologists have found a possible site for a fortified tower and secret tunnels. It is believed that Vlad III and his brother were imprisoned in this castle.
When Vlad II - the father of Vlad III - went to the Ottoman Sultan Murad II before Constantinople, his sons were brought with him and taken hostage in the Ottoman court, while the prince was released leaving his children to ensure that their father would not take Hungary into the ongoing war with the Ottoman Empire.
In the Ottoman lands, Vlad and his younger brother studied science, philosophy and the arts, and learned equestrian and war. While his younger brother eventually sided with the Ottomans, Vlad III held hostility against them and fought them after he was allowed to leave.
In 1447, the nobles of Walakia sacked Governor Vlad II to be killed in a swamp halfway between Targoviste and Bucharest in present-day Romania. Vlad's half-brother was killed along with his father.
About a year later, Vlad embarked on a campaign to regain the throne of his father from the new governor of Velakia Vladislav II. His first attempt at military support from the Ottomans was adopted in cities along the Danube River in northern Bulgaria.
Afterward, Vlad III turned on his alliance with the Ottomans, stopped paying the tribute, and received military support from the king of Hungary, who opposes the Ottomans and his rival Vladislav II.
In one of the Ottoman campaigns in the Balkans, Vlad III sent a large number of cavalry and soldiers, but suffered a heavy defeat. He was forced to escape from the Ottomans and Hunyadi both, but he was killed in a remote village in present-day Romania.
The reign of Vlad III was known as the bloody era, killing many of his people and his enemies alike. Legend says he enjoyed seeing his victims during brutal executions.