While Bram Stoker's Count Dracula may be a fictional character, he is said to be based on the sadistic Vlad the Impaler, prince of Wallachia in the 15th century.
Dracula's castle is believed to be based on Bran Castle, described by the author as "'... on the very edge of a terrific precipice ... with occasionally a deep rift where there is a chasm [with] silver threads where the rivers wind in deep gorges through the forests".
Bran Castle was handed down Romania's Habsburg royal family to Queen Marie, the last Queen consort of Romania and granddaughter of Queen Victoria.
After her death in 1938, the castle was bequeathed to her daughter Princess Ileana, before the family was exiled by communists in 1948.
After the fall of the Iron Curtain, the castle was restored to the family, with Ileana's son Dominic and daughters Maria Magdalena and Elizabeth running it ever since.
It is understood they have offered the Romanian government the chance to buy the castle but are open to other offers.
"Archduke Dominic and his family care very much for the castle, and it's in far better shape now than it was when run by the government," said Mr Meyer.
"The aim, though, is to take the whole thing a stage further and make Bran the kind of place people will stay for two or three days.
"We're also installing a glass elevator that will lead to a tunnel in the mountain, with a light show featuring Dracula and the whole history of the place."
- nzherald.co.nz
