Dracula Places

Tirgoviste

About 80 km northwest of Bucharest, Tirgoviste is of great interest to the Dracula enthusiast because of the remains of Vlad’s palace that can still be seen there.

It was at Tirgoviste, the capital of Wallachia, during Vlad’s longest period in power (from 1456-62) that he committed many of the atrocities (the boyars, the two ambassadors, the ducat, the golden cup) attributed to him in various historical documents. 

There is a tower among the ruins at the Tirgoviste palace, on which is the lookout ledge where Vlad Tepes would watch the impalements in the courtyard below. Quite near the palace ruins, on the side of a main street in Tirgoviste, is a bust of Vlad Tepes, an indication of his important place in history.

It was also at Tirgoviste that Ceaucescu, the former Communist dictator and last vampire of Romania and his wife were executed in December of 1989.