Romania

Bran Castle situated near Bran is a national monument and landmark in Romania.  In 1212, Teutonic Knights built the wooden castle of Dietrichstein as a fortified position at the entrance to a mountain pass through which traders had travelled for more than a millennium. The first documented mentioning of Bran Castle is 1377, giving the Saxons of Kronstadt the privilege to build the stone castle. the settlement of Bran began to develop nearby. In 1438–1442, the castle was used in defense against the Ottoman Empire, and later became a customs post on the mountain pass between Transylvania and Wallachia.

After 1918, Transylvania became part of Greater Romania. On December 1st 1920, the citizens of Brașov offered the castle to Queen Maria of Romania.  The Castle became a favorite residence of Queen Maria, who restored and arranged it to be used as a residence of the royal family.

The fortress is commonly known as "Dracula's Castle."  it is often erroneously referred to as the home of the title character in Bram Stoker's Dracula. There is, however, no evidence that Stoker knew anything about this castle.   Stoker's description of Dracula's crumbling fictional castle also bears no resemblance to Bran Castle.