Bucharest has a museum dedicated to Dracula

A museum that is in the city eternally connected to Vlad Tepes, a.k.a Dracula for foreigners.

And that is because the first royal act known in history dating back from the throne of Bucharest, was by Vlad Tepes in September 20th, 1459, the next one being on February 10th 1461 in the same city. Even if a capital did not have the meaning it has today, we are proud of the choice of the famous ruler.

For foreigners, Dracula is the vampire in Transylvania but for Romanians he is Vlad Tepes, the one that (from what I know) ruled 3 times and managed to obtain independence from the Otoman Empire for a short period of time. As a comparison, to understand to the actual importance of this, imagine that for example the Republic of Moldova nowadays would have an altercation with Russia and win. I am obviously exaggerating. Anyway, something similar. Even if Vlad Tepes’ birth place is unknown, it is considered that he was born in Transylvania and if historically speaking he was a ruler of Wallachia, Bram Stoker’s book took him back there and Bran Castle, which he never even passed by, became his home.

 

However, Bucharest opened the doors to the Dracula Museum, that harmoniously combines the history of the ruler Vlad Tepes with the ficiton of the Dracula brand. On Hristo Botev Street, at number 32, this museum just opened up for visitors of all types: history fanatics or vampire fanatics. An old house, but completely renovated, situated close to the historical center of Bucharest hosts the Dracula Museum and the interior is the truly interesting part.

We had the chance to talk to Mr. Marius Vasile, PR of the museum, who gave us some information about the initiative and the founders.

The cultural project Dracula Museum is coordinated by Mr. Mugur Bogaciu, part of the Ordo Draconum NGO and a member of the Directing Council. He is one of the founders of this project, which was started 4 years ago. Although he is not a historian, he activates in the private domaine, like the majority of the members and he is a big lover of history and culture.

The idea of this museum sprung from the the real necessity of the existence of such a museum in Romania and even in the world, underlined by the passiveness or the carelessness of the Romanian government to such a project. This space presents the complex personality of Vlad Tepes/Dracula, that represents a major touristic interest, especially for foreigners. Another reason was to prove that the civil society can efficiently make a major cultural project in only 3 years, exclusively from donations, that the Romanian government could not accomplish in 30 years.

In this moment, the museum complex is only 60% open, and after obtaining the remaining financing, we will renovate the other buildings, including the tower, unique in Bucharest. The exposition will also be open. There will also be a sector dedicated to children and their interaction with the subject, a projection room with Dracula movies, a small coffee shop and a section presenting medieval torture instruments.

Ordo Draconum is a historical order. Vlad Dracul, Vlad Tepes’ father was part of it for a while. A similar order to the Knights of Malta  or the Teutonic Knights, an order that was fighting for the protection of Christianity and used to organize crusades against the turks. The symbol of this order was a dragon, where the name Dragonum/Draconum/Drancea/Dracul comes from.

Although tourists look for him at Bran, Bucharest is the place where the Dracula museum was open, which harmoniously combines the history of the ruler Vlad Tepes with the fiction of the brand Dracula. On Hristo Botev Street, at number 32, this museum just opened up for visitors of all types: history fanatics or vampire fanatics. An old house, but completely renovated, situated close to the historical center of Bucharest hosts the Dracula Museum and the interior is the truly interesting part.

This is how the museum is structured: on the ground floor there are rooms presenting exhibits related to ruler Vlad Tepes and the first floor has an exhibition of Dracula in cinematographic history and in the global entertainment industry.

For now, the Dracula Museum can be visited without an entrance fee but you can leave a donation. Something interesting, seen rarely to never in museums, is a sign saying “you can touch the exhibits!”. Downstairs, you discover the history and upstairs you can explore the fantasy. Downstairs, you take a trip during the time of Vlad Tepes when he was fighting for the throne of Wallachia with exhibits similar to a history museum and upstairs there are rooms with what Dracula means in the global culture from the past century.

 

We also discovered that “At this moment, the museum complex s only 60% open, and after obtaining the remaining financing, we will renovate the other buildings, including the tower, unique in Bucharest. The exposition will also be open. There will also be a sector dedicated to children and their interaction with the subject, a projection room with Dracula movies, a small coffee shop and a section presenting medieval torture instruments.”

Museum Dracula located in Bucharest is open everyday between 11 am and 6 pm (except for Monday), the entrance is free for now, it’s located in the center of the city and a visit lasts between 30 minutes and…however long you wish. It is worth visiting because you will discover not only the historical character of Vlad Tepes, but also the Dracula brand. We warmly invite you to a lesson about the most famous ruler in the Romanian area.