Roaming Romania - Part Deux- Dracula

I 'vont to suck your blooood.

Count Dracula, a fictional character in the Dracula novel, was inspired by one of the best-known figures of Romanian history, Vlad Dracula, nicknamed Vlad the Impaler, who was the ruler of Walachia at various times from 1456-1462. 

Born in 1431 in Sighisoara, he resided all his adult life in Walachia, except for periods of imprisonment at Pest and Visegrad in Hungary. Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia (1431–1476/77), was a member of the House of Drăculești, a branch of the House of Basarab, also known, using his patronymic, as Vlad Drăculea or Vlad Dracula. He was posthumously dubbed Vlad the Impaler.

His father, Vlad II Dracul, was a member of the Order of the Dragon, which was founded to protect Christianity in Eastern Europe. Vlad III is revered as a folk hero in Romania and Bulgaria for his protection of the Romanians and Bulgarians both north and south of the Danube. 

As the cognomen "The Impaler" suggests, his practice of impaling his enemies is part of his historical reputation.[2] During his lifetime, his reputation for excessive cruelty spread abroad, to Germany and elsewhere in Europe. The name of the vampire Count Dracula in Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula was inspired by Vlad's bloody reputation.
Here's Lynne and Louise at the Snagov Monastery. About 40 kilometers north of Bucharest, on an island in the middle of Snagov Lake, lays the monastery with the same name. Built around the time of Vlad the Impaler's grandfather, the monastery has become famous as the burial place of the infamous prince of Walachia who would become the inspiration for Bram Stoker's Dracula.

Here's Lynne looking at Dracula's tomb.



Basarbovski Rock Monastery

The Basarbovski Rock Monastery “St. Dimitrius Basarbovski” is situated in the valley of Rusenski Lom river, near the village of Basarbovo, 10 km from the town of Ruse.



The rock monastery was established during the existence of the Second Bulgarian Empire, but for the first time its name was mentioned in the Ottoman Tax Register of 1431.

For some time during the 19th century the monastery was left uninhabited, but in 1937 the priest Hrisant of the Preobrazhenie Monastery settled here, and he set a new beginning of the existence of the religious settlement.

Here's a gal and her son, she was with the whole family to present him for Baptisim.


 The priest needs to carry water to the top for the Baptism.

 
Here's a pic of the whole family. They took the day of to celebrate.

Our tour guide describes the icons found in this old church.

On a walk around the town, I spotted one of the very few beggars on he street. I love her sense of style.

That's it for now.