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Romanian royal home draws vampire tourists; heir wants ‘a happy place’When he lived as a boy in Bran Castle, Dominic Habsburg, now 79 years old, recalls it was “a happy place of light and flowers” that had been a residence to his grandparents, Queen Marie and King Ferdinand I, who once reigned over this

BUCHAREST (Reuters) - Romania returned a picturesque castle in the Carpathian mountains to its former king, who was chased out by the communist regime 60 years ago. The Peles castle, now hosting a museum and an art collection, has become a popular tourist attraction since opening to the public after the execution of Stalinist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu in 1989. According to a memorandum signed by the representatives of the former monarch King Michael, the castle will be sold back to Romania if authorities agree to keep it as a museum. "This is a historical moment, a symbolic one that marks...

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) - You might think the owners of Dracula's castle are out for blood. The family that owns the Transylvanian castle wants $78 million dollars for it. The castle was home to the 15th century medieval ruler who inspired the novel about the blood- sucking Count Dracula. Dominic Habsburg is a member of the castle-owning family and an architect in upstate, New York. He insists his family is being reasonable. He says the family wants the castle preserved and selling it to local authorities is the best way to do it. The Transylvanian castle is now a tourist...

BUCHAREST, Romania - More than 60 years after it was seized by communists, the Romanian government is to hand back one of the country's most popular tourist sites, the fabled Dracula Castle, to its former owner, the culture minister said Tuesday. The castle, worth an estimated $25 million, was owned by the late Queen Marie and bequeathed to her daughter Princess Ileana in 1938. It was confiscated by communists in 1948 and fell into disrepair. It will be transferred on Friday to Dominic van Hapsburg, a New York architect who inherited the castle from Princess Ileana decades after the communists...

Dracula's castle on sale for 60 mln euros Bucharest (ANTARA News) - Bran Castle, better known as Dracula's Castle, has been put up for sale for 60 million euros (75.6 million dollars) and local authorities in Romania are considering buying it, officials said Wednesday. "Bran Castle is very important for our province's tourism industry. We have set up a commission with five members of the council that will examine the possibility of buying it," Aristotel Cancescu, president of Brasov province's council, was quoted by AFP as saying. The castle was returned in December 2006 to Dominic Habsburg, the grandson of...

Now you can own Dracula’s castle Transylvania's Bran Castle, long connected with Bram Stoker's indelible creation, is for sale. Count Dracula never lived in Bran Castle, in the Transylvania region of Romania, because he was a fictional character. But look, it’s a Gothic-looking castle in Transylvania — plus, Vlad the Impaler, the historical figure who inspired Bram Stoker’s indelible creation, was reportedly imprisoned here. So it’s no surprise that it’s commonly called “Dracula’s Castle,” and that (like Transylvania’s Hunyad Castle and Poenari Castle in Wallachia) it’s often linked with the vampire legend. And now, you can own it. If you...