Cetatea Corvinilor

History

Construction began in 1446 under John Hunyadi, the powerful Voivode of Transylvania, who built the castle on the site of an earlier fortification to serve as the seat of the Hunyadi (Corvin) family. It later passed to his son, King Matthias Corvinus, and to Transylvanian prince Gabriel Bethlen, each adding to its Gothic-Renaissance towers, bastions, and inner courtyard. Local legend holds that Vlad the Impaler was imprisoned here for several years after his fall from power — a claim tourists still hear on every visit, and one of the details thought to have fed into Bram Stoker's Castle Dracula. One of the largest castles in Europe, it now operates as a public museum and has doubled as a filming location for several international productions.