What comes to mind when you hear the word, “Transylvania?” Vampires and Dracula? That is what I always thought. But after a visit to Transylvania, I want you to change your image to something very much opposite. Transylvania is in western Romania. The image I want you to have now is “the Garden of Eden.” It is a mountainous region with patches of trees, sheer cliffs, velvety green fields, farmers cutting their grasses with scythes, mountain top peaks, beautiful rivers, and castles. It is the kind of place where you just want to sit for a while and ponder how God could have made such a beautiful place.
As for the castles, we visited two. One named Peles (pronounced “pell-ESH”) and one named Bran (“Bron”). Peles Castle is an ornate, Tudor style castle built by a Romanian King named Carol I from the late 1800s until 1914. One of the unique features of the castle was that the King built different sections of the castle in the various styles of cultures from around the world. Interestingly, he believed that few Romanians would get to travel the world to see its style and culture, so he wanted to bring it to the people. At his own expense, he built this impressive castle.
The second castle was my favorite of the two: Bran Castle. It dates from 1212 AD and has a rich history. Built along one of the routes of the ancient world, it has links to an ancient just but fierce king. His reputation led the castle to be identified as Dracula’s home though the author of Dracula, Bram Stoker, has never mentioned Bran Castle.
These pics were added with the help of Google...but we will add some of our own soon!
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