Sighisoara: Birthplace of Vlad Tepes
Vlad's family home is now a Restaurant
Sighisoara, birthplace of Vlad Tepes, RomaniaSighisoara was established by the Saxons of Transylvania.
1. Birthplace: The big yellow house.
The home where Vlad Tepes was born in 1431 is now a restaurant. Expect and get generous portions of good basic food. Sauces and frills are few, so the atmosphere seems authentically Romanian.
The town is in excellent medieval condition, never bombed, or overrun. See the photo gallery at http://www.world66.com/europe/romania/sighisoara/lib/gallery.Although he ruled Wallachia for periods in a brief timespan, 1456-1462, his reputation suggests a far longer domination.
2. Monuments and The Novel, Dracula.
There are references to Vlad Dracula in many places, and they often refer to the novel, Dracula, by Bram Stoker, even though it is far removed from the life. Reread the Stoker novel at Dracula, http://www.literature.org/authors/stoker-bram/dracula/
As in other Romanian cities with ties to Vlad Tepes, there are excellent descriptive plaques in Sishisoara. They separate out the kitsch, and offer historical information particularly where Bram Stoker made other fictional claims. The result is to interest people who want to know what really is known, or reasonably so; as well as those who want to follow in Bram Stoker's characters' steps without critique.
Entire tours are devoted to Vlad, but the distances between real sites is great, and there is too much to see in between to focus only on Vlad.. The Romanian Tourist Bureau provides an overview of his life as told in legend. See http://www.draculascastle.com/html/poenari.
3. World Heritage
Sighisoara is a World Heritage site. See http://www.romanianvoice.com/images/orase/sighisoara.php. The full list of places on the Romanian World Heritage honor roll is at http://www.thesalmons.org/lynn/wh-romania. Fine photos: at this Unesco site -- http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/902
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