Vlad's birthplace Sighisoara, Romania

Located in Transylvania, Sighisoara is the birthplace of Vlad the Impaler aka Dracula. He lived there until the age of four. Founded by the Romans, Saxon colonists settled in Sighisoara in the 12th century, building a thriving village.

On an aside, Romania is home of the oldest homo sapien bones in Europe, 42,000 years old--an odd mixture of early modern human and Neanderthal--found in the Cave With Bones.

A small road winds itself up the hill into the medieval walled village. 

Sighisoara, on the Unesco World Heritage list, is beautifully restored thanks to German investors and Prince Charles who came to help save it through the Mihai Eminescu Trust. 

The yellow house on the right, just before the tower, is the house here Vlad was born. 

From the 4th to the 10th centuries Goths, Huns, Avars, Slavs, Bulgars and Magyars settled the area today known as Romania. By the 13th century Transylvania was an autonomous principality under Hungarian rule. Tartars raided the land in the 13th century and King Bela IV of Hungary asked German Saxons to settle the territory to help defend against further invasion.

Prince Basarab I (Dracula's ancestor) united several small regions south of the Carpathians in the 14th century to create the Romanian principality called Wallachia. There were now three principalities, ruled by one prince (normally of Hungarian nobility): Transylvania, Wallachia and Moldavia.

The house of Basarab was eventually split into two factions, with Vlad Dracul ruling in Transylvania and his cousins in Wallachia and Moldavia. 

In 1431, Vlad's father (also named Vlad) won the surname "Dracul" (meaning "the dragon" in Romanian) for his bravery in fighting the Turks in the Ottoman Empire. King Sigismund of Hungary, the Holy Roman Emperor in 1410, founded an order of knights called The Order of the Dragon. It's members were duty bound to fight the infidels aka Muslims.

Vlad III--our Vlad--was born in Sighisoara during his father's reign in Transylvania. In 1436, Vlad Dracul killed Alexandru I and became ruler of Wallachia and Transylvania. 

As the invading Turks were practically an unstoppable force and, as Wallachia bordered the Ottoman Empire, the family moved to Wallachia when Vlad III was four years old. 

History to be continued in future blogs. Stay tuned.

Back to the village of Sighisoara. Ohhh, must be tons of old karma in this building.

I love these guys!

The Citadel was walled during the 14th century still has nine of its original fourteen towers.  

The citadel wall where the soldiers would stand and shoot arrows down upon the enemy.

I just fell in love with the rich and exotic design and architecture in Romania. 

The clock tower houses a museum. As it is built of wood (unlike France's castles), it was mightily hot, whew!

A few goodies from the museum.

Love the stairs. Makes you wonder how many feet pounded that stone down. Did Vlad's little feet patter up these stairs?

A few surgical tools from days past. 

And that was about it. Nothing earth shattering in that museum, not much art. The village itself was the work of art. Photos can not capture its ambiance and majestic poetry. everywhere you turned, it was ancient, colorful and beautiful.

Here is a walled staircase leading up to a monastery. 

Oh, and by the way, gypsies sold tons of garlic and scallions on the road leading to Sighisoara .... (Grr, I missed the stands with all garlic, but you get the idea!)

Voila! Gros bisous et a demain.

Love, Charley